Former L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant’s "illustrious" 20-year NBA career came to a close last year, but he "continues to reign as the greatest of all time in China," according to Andrew McNicol of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. The stats "back it up," according to a 2017 NBA Red Card report by Chinese sports marketing company Mailman. In six of the past 10 years, Bryant has "ranked first in shirt sales in China." Eleven million fans tuned in live on Tencent to "witness his emphatic 60-point final game for the Lakers." He has nearly double the amount of Chinese social media followers as the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry and his post-retirement #KB20 hashtag "garnered 1 billion reads on Weibo, China’s number one social media platform." That puts him firmly at the top of the report’s "most popular basketball stars online in China" category with 119 points, ahead of Curry (103), the Brooklyn Nets' Jeremy Lin (99), former Chicago Bull Dwyane Wade (86) and Chinese Basketball Association side Beijing Fly Dragons' Stephon Marbury (76) -- all of whom are active players. The report assessed and calculated the players' Weibo followers, engagement and follower growth, Baidu (operator of China's largest online search engine) and Weibo mentions and Chinese website presence. Bryant said, "It's been amazing. I'm very blessed" (SCMP, 9/26).
