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NBA: Jeremy Lin, Los Angeles Lakers are China’s most popular, Houston Rockets bounce back
- Houston drop just one place on 2020 NBA Red Card Report despite being blacklisted following GM Daryl Morey’s tweet
- NBA champions see popularity surge on social media as fans share memories of Kobe Bryant
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The NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers added the title of China’s most popular team over the past 12 months, according to the latest Mailman Red Card Report, while former NBA star Jeremy Lin remains more popular than the league’s current players.
While the “Lakers Nation” grew, the biggest surprise is that the Houston Rockets survived the fallout of GM Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters to be the third biggest team on Chinese social media.
The Lakers jumped from third in the 2019 table to top spot, with last year’s No 1 and No 2 – the Golden State Warriors and the Rockets – dropping one place each.
Considering the Rockets were removed from Chinese websites and their games were stopped from streaming by broadcaster Tencent, their resilience is remarkable. That is not to say they were unaffected.
Chinese fans mourn Kobe Bryant’s death on social media
Chinese fans mourn Kobe Bryant’s death on social media
“In the aftermath of the Daryl Morey tweet, average engagement on Weibo from October 2019 to June 2020 dipped by 13 per cent compared to last season, and follower growth was last in the NBA,” said the report from the Shanghai-headquartered sports marketing agency.
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