When a team advances to the NBA Finals, it's great for business. Not only does the franchise make a ton of money and increase their valuation, they win over a ton of new fans. These days, a deep postseason run also leads to an influx of new followers on social media.
Interestingly, the NBA tracks the follower growth of every team on Instagram, and a league source shared this information with BasketballNews.com.
These 10 teams have gained the most followers on IG since the start of the postseason in early April:
TEAM | NEW FOLLOWERS |
Golden State Warriors | 1.2 million |
Cleveland Cavaliers | 524,000 |
Boston Celtics | 413,000 |
Los Angeles Lakers | 312,000 |
Chicago Bulls | 294,000 |
Miami Heat | 251,000 |
Milwaukee Bucks | 213,000 |
Brooklyn Nets | 155,000 |
San Antonio Spurs | 137,000 |
Memphis Grizzlies | 134,000 |
The Warriors have seen the biggest boost by far, adding 1.2 million followers during their NBA Finals run. It doesn't hurt that the team plays a ridiculously fun style of basketball and has one of the most-beloved stars in Stephen Curry, who has also gained a ton of followers during these playoffs. However, it's also a testament to Golden State's terrific social-media team. They are super active (with 15,149 posts) and there's a reason they have the most IG followers (23.7 million) of any NBA team by a large margin.
The Celtics have also seen their NBA Finals run translate to many new Instagram followers, gaining 413,000 over the last two months. It makes sense that both Finals teams are in the top-three of this list.
The biggest surprise is the Cavaliers at No. 2 with 524,000 new followers. The Cavaliers didn't make the playoffs after losing to the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament, yet they have still seen a ton of growth over the last two months. Cleveland has an exciting young core, but this feels like another situation where the Cavs' social-media team deserves a lot of credit. They have 15,362 posts on Instagram, which is the most of any NBA team. And this two-month stretch isn't some fluke: the Cavs have the third-most IG followers of any NBA team, despite playing in a small market.