The Definitive Guide to Starting your Jersey Collection

One of the most important things a young man can dedicate time to is building his basketball jersey collection. A well-rounded and robust collection applies to many facets of the life of the young up-and-comer, including: reputation building, concerts, tailgates, day drinking, house parties, graduations and drinking during a blizzard with your roommates (BatCave shout out). Yet, despite these very obvious reasons for having a top notch collection, many are lost or are simply under-informed in this arena. Some common mistakes include: only having one jersey, having those jerseys with extra material on the shoulders or wearing a t-shirt underneath (I can’t help you with that one, and if this is you its time take a long hard look at your life and wonder where it all went wrong).

No worries, though. If you follow this simple guideline that I have outlined below, you should be well on your way to starting one of the best jersey collections in town (unless you live in Boston. A certain low level blogger owns that title) for as little as $50. Before we begin, I want to reiterate that it is definitely important to have a strong collection. Some friends (Greg Walsh) only wear one jersey to basically everything. It gets old, loses its flair and generally is less exciting.

Jersey #1 – The Hometown Hero

This is a must. If you cannot properly rep the superstar that runs your favorite team then maybe you shouldn’t be looking for a jersey collection. Spend a little extra on this guy, it’s worth it. If you are from a town with no bonafide superstars, then just go with the most popular/funny player, or a young player who could be a stud down the road. Like if you live in SacTown, you have to have a Boogie Cousins jersey. Another example, if you live in Atlanta and all of sudden your J Smoove jersey is no good, I would grab a Schroeds jersey for the future.

Example: The Schroeds, Atlanta Hawks
Pinkham’s Pick – Paul Pierce/Larry Bird, Boston Celtics

Jersey #2 – Throwback

Everyone loves a good throwback. This is and instant high-fiver generator, and you are bound to make 2-3 new friends no matter the occasion. Not only is it different from what people normally rock, but it shows your credibility in the basketball community as well. You will stand out at any event, and babes will be all over you (jk). Danger: If your only jersey is a throwback and you don’t know much about that player, you will be sniffed out. Don’t be a poser. This does not have to be an NBA jersey, per se – all-star/college/high school jersey of a legend works great here.

Example: Larry English, Denver Nuggets
Pinkham’s Pick: Magic Johnson, Michigan State or George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs

Jersey #3 – Throwback, 90-00’s Edition

Here we go – the meat of the order for you collection. I would argue this is the most important piece of the puzzle. This era of the NBA was by far the coolest, and offers the greatest selection of jerseys one could hope for. Literally if a guy played anywhere from 1992-2003, your jersey would be considered awesome. Truly endless options. Not sure where to start? Just Google “1997 NBA all-star game,” pick a random dude who made the team, and buy his jersey. In this example, you would end up with either Detlef Schrempf on the Sonics or Glenn Rice on the Hornets. Boom.

Example 1A: Shawn Kemp, Seattle SuperSonics
Example 1B: Penny Hardaway, Orlando Magic
Pinkham’s Pick: Steve Francis, Houston Rockets

Jersey #4 – White Guy Jersey

White boy alert! This can be tricky, because you have to find the right balance of whiteness and cool, and the jersey has to be sweet to boot. So, for example, a Mike Miller jersey on the Heat would be awful. But Mike Miller on the Grizzlies? Now we’re cooking. This is also difficult because let’s face it, there aren’t many to choose from. I wouldn’t waste this jersey on Steve Nash, that’s just too obvious. An alternate route would be to pick an absolutely goof ball jersey and wear it to be funny. But I mean, that might only work if you yourself were a goofy white boy. I guess really there are only a handful of options, so choose wisely.

 

Example: Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, Vancouver Grizzlies

Pinkham’s Pick: Jason Williams, Sacramento Kings Away (black)….duh.

 

Jersey #5: Wild Card, bitches

 

Now that you have 4 stud jerseys, your 5th can be basically whatever you want. You already have a pretty swaggy collection by now, so its just gravy at this point. Doubling up on the 90-00’s jersey is always highly recommended, as is going completely random. Also a good choice is an All-Star uni or a Team USA jersey. Maybe you stumble upon the perfect Space Jam jersey, or somehow you found yourself staring at Darius Miles Trail Blazers jersey and can’t look away. Basically, if you have made it to this stage of the jersey hunting game, you’ve already won. There is no wrong choice here, unless its something dumb like LeBron on the Heat Kobe on the Lakers. I would say the more random, the better.

 

Example: Hakeem Olajuwon, Dream Team

Pinkhams’s Pick: Mugsy Bouges, Charlotte Hornets

To reiterate, this is just your start. If you have five jerseys that fit this category, then I commend you and would say your jersey collection is dirty. But growing from these five is extremely awesome as well. Getting your collection up and running really isn’t that expensive, and it will benefit you greatly. Chicks Drunk dudes love jerseys, and you’ll be the hit of your next social event.

– JP