Most Ballin' NBA Jersey

My buddy Paul and I had a discussion last night regarding what the most ballin' or cool or gangster (or whatever other adjective you care to use) current NBA player's jersey is to wear. We agreed on a few criteria that should be weighed in reaching this conclusion:

Non-Mainstream

You have to immediately rule out wearing jerseys of super-mainstream guys like Kobe or Lebron. As pimp as those guys might be, if you wear a Kobe jersey, you're not a baller, you're just another donk in a Kobe jersey. In order to wear the most ballin' NBA jersey, you have to go with a player that your Mom has definitely never heard of.

At the same time, you don't want to wear the jersey of someone who is too obscure. People who maintain a casual following of the NBA should have heard of your player before. No one has heard of Damien Wilkins and there's nothing ballin' about wearing his jersey. People will probably just think its one of those lame custom jerseys where people get their own last name printed on it.

Not Too Fresh

One suggestion Paul had for most ballin' NBA jersey was Houston Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks. I objected to this however on the grounds that he's too fresh. A month ago, no one knew who Aaron Brooks was. Fast forward through two playoff series of fantastic play and now he's a pimp. However, I feel like the problem with wearing an Aaron Brooks jersey is that he's too fresh. If you saw a guy wearing an Aaron Brooks jersey, you'd almost want to inquire how he had enough time to cut the tags off. There's just a certain 'trying too hard' element to wearing a jersey of Aaron Brooks at the present moment.

The Team They Play For

One consideration you have to make beyond just the player himself is the team he plays for. In a vacuum, I think Kevin Durant is a very interesting choice for most ballin' NBA jersey, but the problem is, he plays for the unnervingly un-baller Oklahoma City Thunder. The fact that they're in Oklahoma City is bad enough, but on top of that, their jerseys are teal colored. Ouch! On the same grounds, I would rule out Pacers stud Danny Granger who is an otherwise fantastic candidate for this honor. There's nothing baller about Indiana.

On the flip side of the same coin, you don't want to wear a jersey of a guy who is on a team known for having tons of donk fanboys. Sorry Lamar Odom.

Not Too Current

At this very moment, I think you have to rule out wearing the jersey of any player who is still in contention for the NBA title. Wearing a Nuggets, Lakers (though you can never wear a Lakers jersey), Cavs, or Magic jersey is just going to send the message that you're trying to be 'in the moment'. Part of what makes a jersey ballin' is a certain timeless element to it. If you aren't sure what the answer to the question "will this jersey still be ballin' in two months?" is, then you shouldn't wear it.

Upside

Lastly, there should be a lot of upside to the player whose jersey you are wearing. You don't really want to go for a proven veteran. It's too much of a risk-averse, lame decision. The player whose jersey you wear should have a good chance of being much, much more well-known 3-5 years from now than he is currently. The idea is that once he finally reaches Kobesque status, people can look back on your clothing choices from years ago and be like, "damn... he saw this coming!"

With all of that criteria in mind, Paul and I decided that the most ballin' NBA player's jersey you can currently wear is: Andre Iguodala (white home jersey, not black road jersey).



A couple of other guys we considered in addition to Iguodala were Brandon Roy, Kevin Martin, and Devin Harris. Any other suggestions?