NEW YORK – The NBA YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/nba) has eclipsed one billion all-time videos viewed by fans, making it the first professional sports channel on YouTube to surpass the mark.

Since teaming with YouTube in 2007 to unveil the first professional sports league channel, the NBA’s most viewed video of all-time is the LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Shaquille O’Neal impromptu dance contest at the East All-Star team practice during 2007 NBA All-Star in Las Vegas.  To date, the video has been viewed nearly 18.9 million times by fans.

The NBA surpassed the one billion mark when the league’s new BIG Color spot featuring NBA stars dribbling in harmony to a classic holiday tune was viewed.  The spot, which debuted on Nov. 20, has already been viewed nearly 7.3 million times, becoming the third most viewed video all-time on the channel.

Additional top videos viewed on the NBA YouTube Channel include Kobe Bryant’s Top 10 Plays of 2007 (7.9 million views) and Blake Griffin’s memorable dunk over Kendrick Perkins in 2012 (5.9 million views). James is featured in five of the Top 10 videos, while Bryant is in three and Griffin in two.

Along with more than one billion video views, the league’s channel now has more than one million subscribers and was the first professional sports channel to reach the mark.

**See “BIG” Thank You video from the NBA to fans around the world for helping the league achieve historic one billion videos viewed: http://youtu.be/Amsvr50Dm_I **

Top 10 Most Viewed Videos on NBA YouTube Channel

1. LeBron, Dwight, Shaq Dance Off (2007): http://on.nba.com/UGjx6p 9 million views
2. Kobe Bryant’s Top 10 Plays of 2007: http://on.nba.com/UGjNCG   9 million views
3. BIG Color spot (Nov. 2012): http://on.nba.com/UGkdJ1   3 million views
4. Blake Griffin’s Insane Dunk (2012): http://on.nba.com/UGkqMw                 9 million views
5. Top 10 LeBron James Plays of 2009: http://on.nba.com/UGkFHq                 8 million views
6. Kobe Bryant Top 10 Plays from 2009: http://on.nba.com/UGl9xb  2 million views
7. Blake Griffin’s Top 10 Dunks Nov. (2010): http://on.nba.com/UGkWdr  0 million views
8. LeBron Underhanded Halfcourt Shot (2009): http://on.nba.com/UGl6Bn  5 million views
9. LeBron James Top 10 Plays of 2007: http://on.nba.com/UGln7n  7 million views
10. Kobe and LeBron: Mutual Respect (2009): http://on.nba.com/UGlfos  6 million views

The NBA and YouTube have a long history of firsts. The NBA was the first official professional sports league to partner with YouTube in 2005, launch its own channel on YouTube in 2007, and join their “Claim Your Content” program in 2007.   Additionally, the NBA and YouTube recently announced a new deal to feature more than 350 NBA D-League games on YouTube this season, the most by a major professional sports league.

Overall, the NBA has built one of the largest social media communities in the world with more than 325 million likes and followers combined across official NBA, team, and player pages on Facebook, Twitter, Sina and Tencent.   The NBA’s Facebook page (www.facebook/nba) recently surpassed 15 million likes, and the Twitter handle @NBA has more than 6.3 million followers and became the 71^st handle to eclipse the 6 million mark.