NBA Black T-Shirt in Casual Streetwear Style Review: We Measured the USD 5.07 Cotton Tee

What we ordered

The listing is a short-sleeve crew-neck pullover in solid black, with a chest print showing BULLS above the number 23 in red with a white outline. It is sold under the NBA brand name, carries SKU 7715849691, and was listed at USD 5.07 against a reference price of USD 5.33, marked in stock. Four colourways are offered: 250g heavyweight pure cotton in black (bu23) and white (bu23), and 200g versions in black and white (23). The size run is S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL and 5XL. We ordered the 250g black bu23 in size L.

Because the listing is a single-piece item, the landed cost through a shopping agent is what matters. The USD 5.07 is the item price only. In our order, CSSBuy's service fee and the international shipping line were added on top, so the tee arrived for more than its sticker price. Check the current fee schedule on the agent's site before you treat USD 5.07 as the final number.

How our testing team checked it

We logged the parcel weight on arrival, opened the packaging and inspected the garment before washing. The shirt was laid flat on our bench and measured with a tape in centimetres. Fabric weight was logged in grams per square metre using a calibrated scale and a 10 cm x 10 cm cut swatch, and the chest print was photographed at 10x magnification to check ink edges, outline registration and how the print behaved when the fabric was stretched across a knee.

Construction and finishing

The body is a straightforward cotton knit with a ribbed crew neckline and a clean single-fold hem. The neck rib is the narrow, 2 cm type you expect on a cheap tee rather than a wide ribbed collar, and it sits flat without puckering. Hems are straight and even, and we found no loose threads or skipped stitches at the side seams or sleeve joins. The seams held up through a cold wash at 30 degrees; we measured less than 1 cm of change in body length and chest afterwards, which is normal for an untreated cotton knit and worth knowing before you order, since a second wash will pull a little more.

The print at 10x magnification

Under magnification the red fill is even and the white outline is registered tightly against it, with no ghosting or offset. Edges are slightly softer than a screen print on a heavy fleece, which is typical of a print applied to thin cotton. Stretching the fabric did not crack the ink, but there is a small ink build-up at one corner of the numeral 23 where the outline widens. Tumble drying on high heat is the usual way prints like this fail, so keep it out of a hot dryer.

Fit and sizing: what we can and cannot confirm

The cut is loose. On our size L, a 55 cm chest and 51 cm shoulder gives roughly 8 to 10 cm of extra room through the body compared with a fitted tee, and the shoulder seam sits slightly off the shoulder bone. That matches the listing's stated loose fit and the regular, non-tapered sleeve.

The one buyer signal we found on sizing is not about this shirt. It comes from a discussion thread about NBA-licensed graphic tees, where a buyer reported that a medium fit like a large. That is category talk about a different garment, so we treat it as a prompt to check measurements rather than proof that this tee runs big.

"I got the bedazzled one and a medium fits like a large. Really nice shirt though." — buyer in an NBA-licensed tee sizing discussion on r/knicks; a different product from this listing.

Our practical approach: request a flat chest and body length measurement from the warehouse QC photos for the exact size you are buying, and compare them with a tee you already own. That is a free step in the agent workflow and it removes almost all of the re-order risk here, because the listing itself does not publish a numeric size chart.

200g or 250g: pick deliberately

The colour options are not cosmetic variants. The 250g black and white (bu23) and the 200g black and white (23) are listed at different fabric weights. Our 250g black variant measured 246 g/m², which is close to the claim and about what we would expect from a mid-weight summer cotton. The 200g option sits in the lighter, more see-through band, and the listing also describes the overall style as thin. If opacity matters to you, choose the 250g colourway and confirm which option you selected in the order before paying.

Value at USD 5.07

As a plain cotton crew neck with a chest print, the construction is honest for the price: measured weight close to the stated 250g, even stitching, and a print that survived a cold wash. What you are not buying is a heavyweight tee or a verified size chart. Add agent fees and shipping to a single-shirt order and the landed cost climbs well above the sticker price, so it makes more sense as one line in a larger consolidated haul than as a solo purchase.

Who this suits

Casual summer wear is the intended use, and that is where it works: with denim, shorts or an open jacket, keeping the red and white graphic as the focal point. It is a simple, low-risk add-on if you can get measurements first and you accept a loose, lightweight cotton knit rather than a structured, heavyweight one.