If you’re like me, you concluded your relaxing Memorial Day weekend by watching the nail-biter seventh game in the NBA Western Conference Finals. While most people probably were focusing on Klay Thompson’s clutch three-pointers and Steven Adams’ scary mustache (no offense, big guy), I was zeroing in on the promotional T-shirts the fans were sporting in the stands.
Of course, the games themselves are the most important elements of an NBA playoff series, but the T-shirts are a significant component too. It was no coincidence that both teams played better on their home courts, and it’s easy to see why: All you have to do is look up to see your fans are everywhere, cheering you on in your team colors, and you’ve got an instant boost.
So, add in a T-shirt giveaway to all fans in attendance, and you’ve got one unified front to send the visiting team home packing.
With that being said, some T-shirt giveaways were better than others. Here’s a ranking of the best and the worst NBA playoffs T-shirt giveaways.
THE BEST
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
While this team didn’t win the Western Conference Finals, its home game T-shirt giveaways had fans looking sharp. Here’s one T-shirt, featuring a retro logo with a white background:
Game 4. #Thunder pic.twitter.com/BRz1kkPuUo
— Carson Cunningham (@Carson_OKC) May 24, 2016
Another home game featured these T-shirts as the giveaway:
Game 6. #Thunder pic.twitter.com/j6HiHwrOgi
— Carson Cunningham (@Carson_OKC) May 28, 2016
For game three, the Thunder gave fans free T-shirts in two different color-ways (a choice I really like). This way, the team colors are truly represented:
Game 3. #Thunder pic.twitter.com/GMMM7r4Iw8
— Carson Cunningham (@Carson_OKC) May 22, 2016
2. Golden State Warriors
I’m a little disappointed in the Warriors because they really only made one shirt for the playoffs, while the Thunder made at least four different T-shirts. It’s a little underwhelming that the Warriors wouldn’t try to change things up each night.
However, I really did like the one shirt they used as the main giveaway:
The shirt each fan will get when they enter the building for the @warriors game. #DubNation @kron4news pic.twitter.com/p2KIqA0Adn
— Averi Harper (@AveriHarper) May 1, 2016
Even Bernie Sanders got one:
https://twitter.com/jcfphotog/status/737525429074956288
3. The Cleveland Cavaliers
This team beat the Toronto Raptors to secure its spot as the Eastern Conference champions. For a home game against the Raptors, the team gave away these “Wine and Gold” labeled T-shirts:
Tonight's T-Shirt giveaway #Cavs #Allin216 pic.twitter.com/OmO7VVDYfs
— Matt Loede (@MattLoede) May 25, 2016
I think the above T-shirt is better than the T-shirt the Cavs used in their previous playoff series. The team is using the slogan “All in 2016” throughout its playoff games, but an earlier shirt featuring the slogan looked a little convoluted:
It's TShirt time in @TheQArena!#ALLin216 pic.twitter.com/c8ZuO9dzzM
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 17, 2016
THE WORST
1. Toronto Raptors
Nobody really seemed thrilled with the Raptors’ T-shirt giveaways. Initially, the team tried using “Canadian” symbols, like snowballs and beavers, to capture the fans’ home court sentiment:
However, what the Raptors did with the actual placement design of the T-shirts every night was amazing:
.@Raptors' t-shirt layout for Game 7#RAPTORSvHEAT pic.twitter.com/ICoEuF05rq
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) May 15, 2016
and:
https://twitter.com/william11marcus/status/731932019496607745
2. Miami Heat
I get what they were going for with their “White Hot” theme, but the graphic just looks boring:
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/722827166673674241
3. Atlanta Hawks
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Atlanta Hawks’ “True Believer” T-shirt, but I can’t unsee “True Belieber” and I just can’t get past it:
A closer look at the shirts all True Believers will get at tonight's game, courtesy of @GradyHealth.#TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/i7vH1WGuUl
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) May 6, 2016
Also, it looks a little bit like Communist propaganda.
