'Forbes' Ranks the NBA's Most Valuable Franchises

Even for all of drama surrounding the troubled franchise this season, the New York Knicks still managed to top Forbes‘s list of the most valuable franchises in the National Basketball Association, while the Los Angeles Lakers came in a close second. Over the last two decades, either the Knicks or Lakers held the top spot, despite losing 68% of their games over the past three-plus seasons. Most of their revenue comes from playing in the two largest sports markets in the country, and as a result the Knicks turned an NBA-record operating profit of $141 million USD last season, while the Lakers banked $119 million USD in profit.

Rapidly approaching the top, mostly due to winning 85% of their games since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Golden State Warriors came in a close third. The value of the California franchise jumped an NBA-high 37% to $2.6 billion USD after being ranked sixth last year. Rounding out the top five are the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics.

According to Forbes, “The average National Basketball Association franchise is now worth $1.36 billion [USD], a 3.5-fold increase over the last five years. Fueling the gains are the NBA’s $24 billion [USD] media deal with ESPN and TNT that kicked off this season, a new collective bargaining agreement ensuring seven years of labor peace and massive international opportunities.”

Check out the top ten below before peeping the full article here.

1. New York Knicks — $3.3 billion USD
2. Los Angeles Lakers — $3 billion USD
3. Golden State Warriors — $2.6 billion USD
4. Chicago Bull — $2.5 billion USD
5. Boston Celtics — $2.2 billion USD
6. Los Angeles Clippers — $2.0 billion USD
7. Brooklyn Nets — $1.8 billion USD
8. Houston Rockets — $1.65 billion USD
9. Dallas Mavericks — $1.45 billion USD
10. Miami Heat — $1.35 billion USD