NBA
Basketball fans aren’t easy to shop for. Anybody that’s attempted it will know exactly why. They’ve either bought the things they actually want already. Or what they want is licensed merchandise they can find anywhere but that’s cheap and completely forgettable. Or you take a gamble on a jersey and get the wrong team. God forbid you pick the wrong player. At that point you might just as well give up and buy them a toaster. We’ve bought all of the above so you don’t have too.
We’ve compiled every gift idea here for the person for whom basketball isn’t just a hobby, it’s their personality. Or at least a huge part of it. The person that watches the late games on a Tuesday and wakes up for work like nothing happened. The person who has NBA draft opinions you never asked for but they’re going to share them anyway. We know that person. In many cases, we ARE that person.
Every item we’ve selected had to pass a simple test. Would we, as actual fans, want this or does it just have a team logo on it. Simple enough concept, but trust us it eliminates about ninety percent of available merchandise. We weren’t looking to fill your gift with novelty items that get stuck in a drawer. We wanted stuff that actually gets a reaction. Gifts that fit into the way a real fan lives, watches, argues and obsesses about basketball.
Speaking of gifts for every type of fan. We’ve thought about every fanbase when putting this list together. The guy who loves the Lakers and has been through every stage of their rise and fall. The younger fan that knows all the highlights thanks to Instagram and YouTube. The nerd who cares about the analytics just as much as the game itself. Finding gifts that cover all of these fans and more is a challenge. We did it.
Some of these ideas cover watching the game, enhancing the experience and feeling like more of an event. Some of these you can wear and won’t feel like you’re wearing a souvenir. Some are even things for the home that you’ll show off to guests and have them ask where you got. If it was easy to find and stock, it didn’t make this list. Each and every one of these we would actually give to somebody we knew and loved who is just as obsessed with this game as we are.
