Woven Backboard

Personal Collection of NBA Jerseys from the Golden Era

1990's - 2000's

Location: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Address: 1000 Hall of Fame Ave, Springfield, MA 01105

Varying in colors, material, age, typography, stitching, and design layout is the essence of every NBA jersey. Initially the jerseys held a rather plain look with a solid color and plain typography to give view to the team name, number of the player, and on the back, the last name of the player. As years went on, jerseys began to take a different look, as designs were experimented with. Along with the experimentation, teams started to take on more looks rather than just the Home/Away jerseys. In the collection, jerseys range primarily from the 1990's to 2014, which gives a tangible visual as to how the evolution of jerseys happened. In the 90's the jerseys had begun to take on screen printed designs through the brand "Champion". With those early effort and the aging toll on the jerseys, it is evident to see that the jerseys were clearly an experiment as the designs did not uphold well through the years. One of the greatest aspects of the jerseys is the ability to look at them up close and see the details that went into the process of creating the jersey, for example the stitching or the perfect center placement of the front and the rear designs. It's amazing that an individual or group of individuals came up with the design of a jersey and eventually, the ideas they had were brought to life and then seen nationally amongst audiences, also being worn by not only the NBA players but also fans of the game. The jerseys also give kids worldwide the feel of actually being one of the players and being in their shoes. Whether kids actually have a jersey on their backs or have the names written with a sharpie on their back, the essence of the jersey brings life when worn. This is the essence of each and every jersey in the collection, each jersey went through a thorough design process and eventually was brought to life and found it's place in the history of the NBA.