Roger Hosannah and Ugonna Onyekwe with a Southsiders Tee

There was a time when you couldn’t buy basketball tees with NBA designs or college logos.

The licensed merchandise industry was nothing like it is now and the only way you could look like a real player was by actually playing.

When you stepped on the court you had to look the part. Being dipped was about matching your adidas branded reversible with a pair of Top Tens or alternatively hooking up your camp or tourney tee with shorts, socks and boots.

Wearing a shirt from the 7Up or Kingston camps earned you immediate respect. It not only carried weight, but also responsibility. You couldn’t have an exclusive basketball tee and then have no game. You had respect for the name and what it meant and carried shame if you desecrated that name.

Fast forward to the mid-nineties and the summer basketball events in London added a whole new dimension to the basketball tee. Participation in the Rough and Ready and Pro-Am tournaments was the equivalent to taking part in international competition. Only the select few were chosen and these tourney tees had the stature of an international vest. They were few and far between, not many ballers had them and their value became priceless.

Yorick rocks the Rough and Ready T, back in the day

Nowadays the classic basketball tee has taken on a whole new meaning. Oversized and sagging, with a hip hop feel, everybody can now represent. Whether it’s a standard licensed tee, or a fly tourney tee is the, a basketball tee says so much.

G Laws chilling in a HOSANA 10 Tee