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Jeremy Lin in his retro Toronto Raptors jersey on top of their bus for the parade to celebrate their NBA Finals win. Photo: Instagram/@JLin7
SportBasketball

Jeremy Lin’s Chinese social media success expected to grow but can he catch Kobe Bryant? Annual Red Card Report shows benefits of China strategy for NBA teams

  • New Beijing Ducks signing was NBA’s most popular active player over the last year ahead of Stephen Curry again
  • Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and LA Lakers remain in front of NBA champion Toronto Raptors
Jeremy Lin
Jonathan White
Jonathan White
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NBA champion Jeremy Lin is the most popular basketball player on Chinese social media, according to Shanghai-based sports marketing agency Mailman.
Its 2019 Red Card annual report into the social media presence of NBA players and teams in China sees the former Toronto Raptors man top the list of active players, staying ahead of Stephen Curry for a second successive year. 
Lin has since left the NBA and signed for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association, a move which should see his popularity in the country soar and allow Curry to reclaim his crown as the most popular NBA player.

The annual report takes into account the number of followers, follower growth and engagement across Chinese social media platforms Sina Weibo, Douyin and Toutiao.

Fiba World Cup Ambassador Kobe Bryant (left) and Yao Ming, president of the Chinese Basketball Association, at the draw ceremony in Shenzhen. Photo: Xinhua

Lin’s success is partly down to his status as the most popular of all sports stars on video platform Douyin, known as Tik Tok outside China, where he announced his move to the Beijing Ducks earlier this week.

He has a combined following of 12.5 million across Sina Weibo and Douyin, dwarfing his 4.4 million combined followers over Twitter and Instagram.

Jeremy Lin and Steph Curry star in the NBA’s Lunar New Year message. Photo: YouTube
The 31-year-old has spent this summer on an Asia tour where held his third annual All-Star Game with actor and singer Jay Chou in Guangzhou. Lin also appeared on Chinese television series Dunk of China and on Tencent’s online video series Game On.

Despite his growing popularity Lin still lags behind his former LA Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant in online following in China. Bryant has the most followed Sina Weibo account of any active or former player.

He visited China again this year to make it 16 years in a row he has toured the country and regularly engages with fans through videos where he answers their questions.

Jeremy Lin says he’ll make history in China after leaving NBA

Tracy McGrady, who once played for the Qingdao Doublestar Eagles in the CBA, is the second most popular ex-player ahead of Dwyane Wade. The recently retired Wade is another regular visitor to China and has signed up to replace Jeremy Lin as a judge on Dunk of China.
Of the current players, Curry, Klay Thompson and Russell Westbrook – two, three and four on the list – have all visited the country in the off-season on promotional tours. Thompson, like Wade, is also signed to a Chinese shoe brand.

Curry and Thompson’s Golden State Warriors top the list of the most popular teams once again despite losing to Jeremy Lin’s Toronto Raptors in the NBA finals this summer.

Among the teams, the top three remain the same as last year with the Warriors beating the Houston Rockets and the LA Lakers in online popularity. However, the Lakers and Rockets swap places when it comes to the most watched teams. The NBA champions are fourth on the list ahead of the Boston Celtics.

Across the league, teams brought in 47 million new followers over the last year. Those teams with a clear China strategy, such as the Philadelphia 76ers, experienced the strongest growth. They will host the Guangzhou Longlions in preseason, while star man Joel Embiid, who is active on Weibo and Douyin, accompanied Curry on this summer’s Under Armour promotional tour.

Mailman expects NBA teams to follow the players’ lead in strengthening their ties to Chinese companies. They expect many to explore making Chinese brands their jersey sponsors when their initial three-year deals end ahead of the 2020-21 season.

So far, league-wide jersey deals total US$150 million, but this will grow as franchises explore sponsorships from non-US based companies. Even some of the existing sponsors identify China as their biggest markets, such as Disney (Orlando Magic), Harley-Davidson (Milwaukee Bucks) and General Electric (Boston Celtics).

Chinese companies have been active in sport in recent years, particularly in football. The last Fifa World Cup in Russia in 2018 saw Wanda Group, Hisense, Mengniu and Vivo sign on as sponsors, while a number of companies now sponsor clubs in major European leagues.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Jeremy Lin’s Chinese online success set to soar
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