Recently, Twitter created a map depicting the amount of Twitter followers by a color scale for each NBA team. The link to the map/ article are at the bottom of the page. I thought it was interesting the see the distribution of the amount of followers per team. The article mentioned that the Lakers are the most followed team. That was not a surprise to me because I am Lakers fan, but also the Lakers organization is one of the most prestigious organizations in the league. The Lakers always have marketable/ likeable star i.e. Magic Johnson, Kareem, Shaq. I believe this results in a better overall rating and following. I was surprised to see the small amount of followers for the Golden state warriors. The Warriors are one of the better teams in the NBA right now, but have young stars which I assume means have a smaller, younger following. Also, being in the same state as the Lakers does not do well the build a large following. Up until maybe 3 or 4 years ago, the only team in California that consistently made the playoffs (meaning finishing near the top of their respected division) was the Lakers. Its interesting to see the history of the NBA organization illustrated through Twitter followers.

Also, I thought the following in Alaska was interesting. Its a given that the followers in this area gravitate towards the closest team, the Toronto raptors. But the second and third place were the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat. This demonstrates the global effects of having marketable players. After the Toronto Raptors, which have not been in playoff contention in the last two decades except for recently, people in this region chose to support the most popular teams. Earlier, I mention a few of the Lakers past marketable players, but I did not mention Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant, a future NBA hall-famer, has a large global following. He grew up outside of the country, so he has been more apt to market outside the US. The Miami Heat, until last season, had the largest name in the NBA, Lebrun James. During his time with the Heat, he won a few championships and MVPs, so a very successful stint. I think this is another reason for the great fan base in the most northern region of the continent in support of the most southern team location.

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/2329654-nba-twitter-fan-follower-map-shows-lakers-are-most-national-team?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national?is_shared=true