The NBA released its list of top selling jerseys in China yesterday. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant’s new No. 24 is the best-selling NBA jersey in China, followed by Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, Rockets forward Tracy McGrady, Heat guard Dwyane Wade and Cavaliers forward LeBron James. Rockets C Yao Ming ranks sixth, down from third last year. More than 400 million NBA products were sold in over 20,000 retail locations in the past year according to the NBA.

Bryant is sporting a new number this year (wore No. 8 previously) and Iverson was traded from the 76ers to the Nuggets earlier this season. No huge surprise those two lead the pack since they essentially have new jerseys on the market. Its also interesting to note that shoe endorsers for each of these 5 players have spent significant amounts of money marketing them in China and even bringing a few of them over to China for offseason tours (Kobe, T-Mac and LeBron).

Again, watch Kobe Bryant's shoe deal with Nike closely. His Nike deal expires in June and Chinese sports and apparel company Li-Ning is expected to make Bryant a lucrative offer to position him as the top American athlete in China (somehow, I guess, current Li-Ning spokesperson Damon Jones just doesn't compare to Bryant). Bryant's bargaining position for his next shoe deal will certainly be helped with the news that he's got the top selling jersey in China. For companies like Nike, Li-Ning or others who are trying to reach the 1.5 billion Chinese consumers, Kobe's appeal will be very attractive and likely translate in to a big deal for him.

While Li-Ning is expected to offer Bryant a lucrative deal, don't be surprised to see Nike top it. Bryant has really undergone a marketing rebirth in the past year or so and its very important to the people in Beaverton, Oregon to reach the Chinese consumers. Don't underestimate another huge factor - my Nike sources tell me they made a mistake by letting Yao Ming, who was a Nike athlete for years, get away to Reebok when his deal expired a few years ago. Nike put a lot of money in to LeBron James at the time and they didn't renew Yao. I would bet that the Nike people who let Yao walk, will think long and hard about letting Kobe leave for a more lucrative deal. Nike stuck with Kobe during his tough times a few years ago and they've invested in him to reach the Chinese in the past 18 months and his popularity is growing there. Nike is the leading sports and apparel company on the planet and if they want to pony up the money to pay Kobe and top any other offer he receives, they have the resources to do so.

Again, watch this one carefully.

Speaking of Kobe's rebirth, has anyone noticed that Kobe is amongst the finalists for the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award? The award is basically the NBA's version of the "Man of the Year" award and is presented annually to the player who exemplifies the league's standards for commnity giving. Kobe's is up against Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups and Luol Deng for the award. The media votes on the award, so it will be interesting to see how this turns out given Kobe's recent "flailing" suspensions. He's also always kept his communtiy efforts very low profile. But given the fact that many left him for dead as an endorser after his rape trial a few years ago, this is yet another remarkable step in rehabbing his image.

By the way, a friend of mine left Portland a few months ago to go work for the company that handles Kobe's website - KB24.com. If there is a better athlete website on the internet, I'm not sure what it is. This site is outstanding. I especially like the "Truth" section where Kobe shares some of his personal thoughts on topics of the day - such as Phil Jackson defending him after the NBA suspended him.

UPDATE: This blog entry has been picked up by the esteemed Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on ESPN.com. Check it out....