The NBA is on track to break yet more records for attendance and sellouts, it was reported on Sunday – hours before the All-Star Game gets underway in Indiana.
At the break in the season, attendance is up 2 percent from last season, and the 524 sellouts are on pace to top the record 791, per a report in Sportico.
Both records were set in 2022-23, when total attendance reached 22.2 million.
Jonathan Tillman, the head of team marketing and business operations for the league, told Sportico that the inaugural in-season tournament and the close standings in the Western Conference have boosted the number of fans through the turnstiles.
While the Boston Celtics have a six-game lead in the Eastern Conference, four teams – Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets – sit within three games at the top of the West standings.
The NBA is heading for another record-breaking season, with LeBron and Co at the forefront
Ten teams around the league have sold out every game so far in the 2023-43 NBA season
Ten teams have sold out every home game this season, Sportico reported. They include the Celtics, Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings.
The rest of the list is made up of the Maimi Heat, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The latter is particularly impressive, after they recorded the fourth-worst attendance in the NBA last season, at less than 90%.
Stars like Stephen Curry (right) are drawing in the fans despite their on-court struggles
This season, the Timberwolves are at the top of the Western Conference, with a 19-16 record to start the season.
The Celtics currently sit atop the Eastern Conference, six games ahead of their nearest rivals the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Lakers and Warriors’ sellout figures are particularly impressive given the on-court struggles of both teams – with the Warriors hovering close to a .500 record at 27-26, and the Lakers only a few games ahead at 30-26.
That said, both teams do have superstar players, with the Lakers still led by the legendary LeBron James, while Stephen Curry is chasing yet another ring with Golden State.