LeBron James and Stephen Curry are undoubtedly the most famous figures in NBA history, not only the most marketable players in the league, but also the outstanding ambassadors of basketball.
They have enjoyed tremendous success in their careers, winning six MVP awards, eight championship rings, and five Finals Most Valuable Player awards. Their fame is growing day by day, and it goes without saying.
And the list of best-selling jerseys in the latest official NBA Twitter post is a testament to their impact: Curry's Golden State Warriors jersey is still the best-selling jersey, while Los Angeles Lakers superstar James is in second place.
This fully shows that Curry and James are still the face of the league and will continue to maintain this status until retirement.
Some of the players' names that fans expected filled the top five on the list, with Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo coming in third and fifth, respectively.
But one of the most striking developments was that Victor Wembanyama became an instant fan favourite at No. 4, surpassing more well-known players such as Luka Doncic (sixth), Kevin Durant (eighth), Joel Embiid (twelfth) and Nikola Jokic (thirteenth).
From Wembanyama, we can see what it means to be terrible, and it is really too violent.
However, the two emerging stars are not evident in the top 15 of the jersey sales list.
Although the Oklahoma City Thunder finished first in the Western Conference and the Minnesota Timberwolves have become one of the top two-way teams in the league, the popularity levels of Shay Gilgeos-Alexander and Anthony Edwards have not followed suit.
These two are truly incredible compared to Wembanyama.
However, this list of best-selling jerseys does not in any way indicate how good a player has been in a particular season.
Jersey sales are just one indicator of a player's popularity, and just as the playoff MVP winner and James' subsequent team became the No. 1 pick, jersey sales don't mean how good the performance is, needless to say.
But as the representative face of the NBA, a person's popularity is a factor.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry have long been leaders in their field, sharing the spotlight for much of the 2010s, and they've managed to transform millions of viewers from casual enthusiasts to hardcore basketball supporters.
At the very least, league officials can be confident that the league will remain in good shape in terms of the market once James and Curry eventually retire, especially if superstars like Edwards and Gilgeoz Alexander don't make it into the top 15 best-selling jerseys.
When James and Curry retire, who will be the face of the NBA?
As things stand, Anthony Edwards and Shay Kyrgios-Alexander will have to dive deep into the playoffs and impress the world before they can be considered the next face of the league.
Even so, winning the championship is not a guarantee of being the face of the league. Nikola Jokic has become even more popular due to his dominance, but he still ranks 13th in jersey sales.
Factors that determine who will be the next face of the league should include: how interesting their style of play is, how much team success they can achieve, how charismatic their personalities are, and how big the market their team is in.
With these factors in mind, the hand-picked candidates who could be the faces of the league once LeBron James and Stephen Curry retire include: Jayson Tatum (team success, marketable team), Victor Wembanyama (unique style of play, must-see entertainment value), Luka Doncic (individual dominance, potential team success), and Giannis Antetokounmpo (inspirational personality, team success, individual talent).
Over time, we'll see if these players can take on the responsibility of replacing LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
But no matter what, they will leave their own unique mark on the history of the NBA.