NBA Bulls 23 Tee Review: A Collar-Ribbing Pull Test and a Stitch Count at the Shoulder Seam

Our testing team ordered the NBA black T-shirt in casual streetwear style (SKU 7715849691) through the same agent route readers use, paying $5.07 against a listed $5.33. It arrived as a pullover crew neck in black pure cotton, with the red-and-white BULLS 23 graphic printed across the chest. Because a graphic tee lives or dies at two points — the collar and the shoulder seam — those are where we spent our bench time.

The order, term by term

Listing term	What we recorded
Price paid	$5.07 (listed $5.33, in stock when ordered)
Variant ordered	250 g pure cotton, black bu23, size L
Fabric claim	Pure cotton, breathable, thin, short sleeve, no hood
Stated weight band	180 g to under 250 g per square metre, across four colourways
Size run	S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL
Season stated	2024 summer release, daily wear

Why the collar got the first hour

A printed tee at this price usually fails at the neckline before anywhere else. We measured the ribbing at 3.0 cm wide, then pulled the collar outward by hand twenty times, resting thirty seconds between pulls, and photographed the edge from the same three points each round. After the twentieth pull the binding returned to within roughly 3 mm of its original opening. The ribbing is a fine 2×2 with a visible stitch line at the join, not the fused tape we expected.

Stitch count at the shoulder seam

We counted stitches per inch on the load-bearing seams rather than on the decorative topstitch. The shoulder join reads as a five-thread overlock at 11 stitches per inch across the full run on both sides — consistent, with no skipped needles or gathered sections. The hem is a single-needle cover at 10 per inch. On a garment weighed at 238 g in size L, that is denser finishing than the price implies.

The print changes the front panel

The listing's own spec sheet calls the pattern solid colour while the photographs show a red graphic with white outlines, so we treated the images as the record. The geometric BULLS 23 motif is printed rather than appliquéd, and it stiffens the chest panel noticeably against the black cotton around it. The white keyline sits clean on the red fill at the edges we could see, though a printed patch this size always behaves differently from the fabric beneath it when the shirt is worn loose.

Two cotton tiers, one weighed swatch each

The four colourways are not the same cloth. Black bu23 and white bu23 are listed at 250 g heavyweight, while the plain 23 colourways are listed at 200 g. We cut a swatch from the hem allowance of our black sample and weighed it against the same cut from a 200 g white variant: 238 g garment versus 191 g. If you want a summer layer, the lighter tier is the honest choice; if you want the fabric to hold a boxy shape, order the heavier one and check the code in your agent order.

The number we could not settle

Fit is the open question. The only buyer signal we could find is a thread about NBA-licensed graphic tees in which one commenter says a medium fit like a large. That is category talk, not a report on this shirt, and we scored it at 30% confidence. Our size L measured 55 cm across the chest flat and 71 cm down the body — useful only if you are buying an L.

“I got the bedazzled one and a medium fits like a large. Really nice shirt though.”

Two editors wore the sample across a week of ordinary commuting. Neither found the loose cut obstructive; both would ask for flat measurements before ordering a second size. That request costs nothing and removes the only real risk in a $5.07 purchase.

What we would do before paying

1. Confirm the colour variant code so you know whether you are getting the 250 g or the 200 g cotton.
2. Ask the agent for flat chest and body length in the exact size you want, not the size chart.
3. Accept that a re-order may be the cheapest way to learn your size in this cut.