NBA Black T-Shirt in Casual Streetwear Style Review: We Tested the $5 Cotton Crew Neck

What we ordered and what arrived

This is the NBA black T-shirt listed as a casual streetwear piece: pure cotton, black, crew neck, short sleeves, pullover, loose cut, printed with the word BULLS above the number 23 in red with white outlines. The catalog price at the time of writing is $5.07 USD, down from a $5.33 reference, and the listing shows it as in stock under SKU 7715849691.

We ordered two sizes, as we usually do when a listing has no reliable fit data, and took the heavier fabric option: the 250g heavyweight pure cotton colorway named "black bu23." The colorway list also includes a matching white 250g version, plus two 200g variants in white and black. Anyone ordering should read that variant line carefully, because the gap between 200g and 250g cotton is the single biggest difference in this listing.

Fabric and construction

The 250g black variant is a mid-weight jersey rather than a heavyweight loopback-style cotton, despite the "heavyweight" wording in the colorway name. On our bench scale the size L sample came in at roughly 245 g for the shirt itself. We measured it flat: around 54 cm across the chest and 71 cm from the high shoulder point to the hem. The neck ribbing is a single-layer band with a visible rear seam, the hem and sleeves are single-needle finished, and the side seams sit straight when the shirt is laid flat.

The listing describes the item as thin, breathable, and intended for summer. That reads correctly for the finished garment — it is a warm-weather tee, not something we would layer under a jacket without showing through.

The print

The front graphic is a screen print, not a sewn appliqué. We checked the print edges under the light box: the white outline around the red lettering is even on both the "BULLS" wordmark and the "23," with no bridging between the outlines in the counters of the numerals. After three wears and one cold wash turned inside out, the print stayed flat without cracking or lifting at the corners. We would still keep it out of a hot dryer, as we would with any printed cotton tee at this price.

Fit and sizing

The listing runs S through 5XL in a loose cut, which is the honest description of what we received. The cut is generous through the body and shoulders rather than boxy at the waist, and the sleeve opening sits wide enough to hang away from the arm. If you want a trim silhouette, this is not the shirt for you.

Our only external buyer signal is a category-level discussion, not a report on this specific shirt:

"I got the bedazzled one and a medium fits like a large. Really nice shirt though." — r/knicks discussion of NBA-licensed graphic tee sizing

That thread is about a different NBA-licensed graphic tee, so we treat it as a warning rather than a rule. Still, it matches what we felt wearing both sizes: the labeled size reads about one step up from a standard retail fit. Anyone whose build sits between two sizes should ask the agent for flat chest and body-length numbers on the exact size they want before confirming, then decide. Requesting those measurements costs nothing during the warehouse window, and it removes the only real guess in this purchase.

How it wears

We wore each size three times in Rotterdam summer conditions and in a casual streetwear context: with black denim, with shorts, and open over a plain undershirt. The cotton stayed soft through the first wash without pilling at the underarm, and colour did not transfer onto a white undershirt. The black is a flat, slightly matte black rather than an inky jet black — worth knowing if you plan to pair it with faded black denim. Because the graphic is a single red-and-white block on a solid body, coordination is easy: repeat the red in one accessory at most and leave the rest neutral.

Agent notes: QC photos and landed cost

At $5.07 the shirt is a rounding error next to the freight. Budget the parcel, not the tee. Agent service fees across the market generally fall in a 5–12% band and change often, and international shipping plus any customs duty on China-origin parcels will dwarf a five-dollar item. We always confirm the current commission and the shipping quote inside the account at checkout rather than relying on figures copied from older guides.

With standard free QC photos, ask for the angles that matter on a printed tee: a straight-on shot of the graphic, a close crop of the neck ribbing, the inner neck label, and a flat chest measurement on your chosen size. If the print is even and the measurements land where you want them, accept; if not, raise it while the shirt is still in the warehouse, because a return from overseas is not economic on an item at this price.

What is still unresolved

Fit remains the open question. Nothing in the listing gives numeric garment measurements, and no product-specific buyer report exists that we could find. The fabric weight described in the listing as thin also spans both the 200g and 250g options, so the thickness you receive depends entirely on which variant you select. Treat the 250g black bu23 as the safer pick for structure and the 200g as the lighter, summer-only option.