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'His Airness' becomes a top seller again

Michael Jordan, who ended a three-year retirement to play for the Washington Wizards, also returned to the National Basketball Association's list of top merchandise sellers this year.

Jordan, who's long been the league's most popular player, was among the NBA's top 10 players this season when measured by the sales of products carrying his name, number or picture.

The five-time league MVP was joined on the list by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto's Vince Carter, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett, Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, New York's Latrell Sprewell, Orlando's Tracy McGrady, and Lamar Odom and Darius Miles of the Los Angeles Clippers.

All were on last year's top-10 list except Jordan, McGrady, Odom and Miles, the league said. The NBA doesn't rank the players in order.

Merchandise sales accounted for about US$1.8 billion in revenue this season, up 35 percent from a year ago, the NBA said.

Four players who were on last year's list -- New York's Marcus Camby and Allan Houston, New Jersey's Jason Kidd and Memphis's Jason Williams -- didn't make it this year.

The Knicks are last in the Atlantic Division even though they have the NBA's highest payroll. The sales of Camby's merchandise may also have been affected by a hip injury that forced him to miss much of the season.

"Given his injury status, I would just assume that would affect the number of people buying Marcus Camby jerseys," said Rick Kaplan, his manager.

Kidd fell off the list even though he's a leading candidate for the Most Valuable Player Award on a team with the best record in the Eastern Conference. He was traded to New Jersey from Phoenix in the offseason.

The 10 best-selling teams, in alphabetical order, were: Dallas, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Sacramento, Toronto and Washington.

The Mavericks, Clippers, Kings and Wizards weren't on last season's list. Four clubs on last season's list didn't make the cut this time -- Chicago, Indiana, Miami and Phoenix.
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