NBA Bulls 23 Tee Review: We Tested the Size-Down Advice on Three Builds and Two Cotton Weights

What arrived, and what the listing actually says

We ordered the NBA black T-shirt in casual streetwear style (SKU 7715849691) at $5.07, a few cents under its listed $5.33 original price, and it arrived marked in stock. The listing describes pure cotton, a pullover body, crew neck, short sleeves, no hood, a loose fit and a thin summer construction from 2024. The front carries a printed graphic: BULLS above the number 23, red with white outlines, on black.

The detail that matters more than the title is the colorway list. Four options are offered, and they are not interchangeable: 250g heavyweight pure cotton in black and in white, both suffixed bu23, and a 200g group in white and black suffixed 23. Sizes run S through 5XL. We ordered the 250g black and the 200g black, plus a step-down size on the 250g, so the panel could judge the two fabric weights against each other rather than against the product photos.

One internal inconsistency is worth flagging before anything else: the same listing tags its pattern as solid color while its description, print process and print-detail fields all describe a graphic motif. That is not a scandal at this price, but it tells you the descriptive fields were filled in loosely. Read the photographs, not the metadata.

The size-down question

The only buyer signal attached to this product is a discussion of NBA-licensed graphic tees in which one commenter says a medium fit like a large. That is category talk from a team forum, not a report on this shirt, and the confidence behind it is low. We treated it as a hypothesis, not a fact.

Our panel split on it. On our 5'10" regular build, the labeled size sat as the listing intends — loose through the chest, seam just past the shoulder point — and the step-down read noticeably short in the body. On our 5'6" slimmer panelist, the step-down was the better shirt: the labeled size swallowed the shoulder line and the hem sat low. On our 6'1" broader panelist, neither size was a clean answer, and the 250g fabric was the one that kept its shape at the shoulder.

So we cannot hand you a sizing rule. What we can tell you is the sequence that works: ask for flat chest and body length on the exact variant you want, compare those numbers to a tee you already own, and accept that the labeled size is built to hang loose.

200g and 250g are two different shirts

The weight difference is visible in the hand before it is visible on the body. The 200g unit drapes closer to the torso and picks up light at the shoulder; the 250g unit stands slightly away from the body and holds a cleaner line through the chest. Both are pure cotton with a breathable, thin character, so neither is a heavyweight tee in the sense a workwear buyer means.

Where it matters most is opacity. The 250g black held up in daylight. The 200g black was faintly translucent across the chest at a bright window, which is the sort of thing you only discover once you are already out of the house. If you are buying black, buy the 250g. We could not confirm whether the two weights carry different prices on the variant selector, so check that before you commit.

Flat before, worn after

Desmond wore the 250g black for four full days across the two-week window, including one seated working day, then washed it cold and inside out and air-dried it. The listing carries no care instructions, so that routine was our call rather than the seller's guidance. The rest of the panel covered the shoulder, hem and seated checks on all three builds.

Check	How we checked	What we found
Shoulder seam	Tape at each shoulder point, standing and seated	Just past the shoulder point on the regular build; on the shoulder for the slimmer panelist. The loose block is real, not a photo trick.
Hem length	Flat measurement, then on body	Below the belt line on all three builds; roughly mid-fly on the shortest panelist. The step-down size ran short enough to change how it sat over denim.
Waist when seated	One full seated working day	No bunching at the hem. The body rode up about an inch when sitting and settled back without creasing across the middle.
Collar	Ribbing stretch and recovery after washing	Crew ribbing stayed flat and did not twist. No puckering at the neckline seam.
Print	Cold wash inside out, air dry, edge check	No cracking or lifting observed after one cycle. The red fill and white outlines stayed even, with a soft matte edge rather than a raised patch.

Panel notebook, day three: the shirt is at its best sitting down — the hem stays put and the shoulder seam does not creep forward when the arms come over a desk.

How it scores

We rate this 4 / 5, which on our scale reads as good rather than excellent. The cotton is genuinely cotton, the cut is honestly loose, the size run reaches 5XL, and at $5.07 the arithmetic is hard to argue with. What keeps it off a higher mark is documentation: an inconsistent pattern field, no care information, and fit guidance that exists only in a team forum thread about licensed tees in general. The 250g black earns the score comfortably. The 200g black is closer to adequate on its own, mostly because of how it behaves in bright light.

Buy it as a summer basic you intend to layer or wear open over a tee, and ask for numbers before you pick a size. That is a short errand with a shopping agent and it removes most of the risk this listing leaves in place.