Paris Olympics: NBA jerseys conquer the world

LILLE, France — The fan wearing a crisp yellow No. 23 Lakers jersey walked down Rue du Molinet, the cobblestone concourse at the heart of Lille, scanning the candy shops and kebab shops. When he saw what he was looking for, he pointed to a fan sitting outside a fast-food stir-fry restaurant and shouted in a thick accent, “LEBRON JAMES!”

The second fan, wearing his own No. 23 jersey, this time a rich, royal purple, shouted back, in an equally heavy but completely clear accent, “LEBRON JAMES!” A few fist bumps and then they went their separate ways, united by their love for the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and GOAT candidate.

They were in Lille to watch James and the rest of the US basketball team play Serbia. They were two of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of international NBA fans who wore the uniforms of their favorite players.

For American fans who grew up with the NBA, seeing the spectrum of jerseys at an international NBA game is like a parade from Remember Some Guys. You might see a Vince Carter Raptors jersey from the 90s (the one with the dribbling dinosaur), or a Tracy McGrady Orlando Magic jersey, or a Dominique Wilkins Hawks jersey from the 80s, or the entire rainbow of Shaq’s teams.

Aside from James, Steph Curry is the most popular shirt, with fans in Lille wearing all variations of the City Edition shirts, as well as the standard Golden State home and away models. As you might expect from the Olympics, there is a plethora of Team USA shirts; the only question is whether you want to represent JORDAN, or BIRD, or BRYANT or IVERSON in the red, white and blue.

Like their American counterparts, international NBA fans are well-informed, privy to all the gossip, behind-the-scenes drama and prevailing narratives that often overshadow the actual games. The fans in Lille gave Kevin Durant a proper reception for his first game since the playoffs and ripped into Joel Embiid, who decided to play for the United States instead of France.

This is, in every way possible, the culmination of the NBA’s decades-long effort to make its game truly international. From the Avengers-caliber Dream Team of 1992 to the constant goodwill tours to the current crop of international stars (Nikola Jokić, Embiid, Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama) to the sheer unspeakable cool that transcends borders, the NBA is appealing to fans overseas, and the numbers show it.

More than 75 percent of the league’s social media followers come from outside the United States, and the NBA is already scheduling big stars in afternoon games on weekends to take advantage of those international viewing windows. The proof is literally on the streets.

The players are feeling it, too. “I looked around and there were so many different NBA jerseys in the stands,” Durant said at Pierre-Mauroy Stadium after Sunday’s win over Serbia. “I think it’s great when we bring people from all over the world, from all walks of life, together like that.”

One final thought: The NBA’s dominance abroad is impressive, but not complete. At this point, the fandom is genuine, not ironic. How do we know the NBA has won? When international fans start rooting for stars on their most obscure teams—Patrick Ewing on the Sonics, Hakeem Olajuwon on the Raptors, Rasheed Wallace on the Hawks—the NBA will be an unstoppable global force. The final stage of fandom is the deep joke, and international fans are well on their way to joining in.