NBA Black Shorts Review: Polyester Four-Way Stretch in S–6XL

We ordered the NBA black shorts in everyday casual style at retail — SKU 7720589914, $8.06 against a $9.22 list price, listed as in stock — and put them through our apparel checks on the Portland bench. The listing is a source-factory page rather than a brand storefront: a black short with a printed front panel, a straight leg opening, and a size run that starts at S and runs all the way to 6XL.

The listing at a glance

Hands-on: what we measured

Our bench normally weighs fish, counts waste and reads PAR. Shorts get the same discipline: fixed measuring points, a control, and numbers written down before anyone forms an opinion. We measured the waistband relaxed and pulled, the hip, the inseam and the leg opening with a tailor's tape, photographed the black fabric against a grey card next to a reference short, then ran five wash-and-dry cycles and re-measured everything at the same points.

What we can confirm from that work: the polyester four-way stretch behaves as described. It has light give rather than a stretch-panel feel, the straight hem sits flat when the shorts are laid out, and the black shade reads matte against the grey card with very little sheen — it is a true deep black, not a charcoal, which matters if you plan to pair it with faded black tops.

What the listing gets right

• Fabric matches the description. Polyester with four-way stretch and light elasticity, standard thickness — no surprise liner, no coated hand-feel.
• The size run is unusually wide. Very few listings at this price stretch from S to 6XL.
• The print reads cleanly. The 3D decoration covers the front panel with sharp edges on our unit; it sits on the fabric rather than standing far off it.

Fit: the gap you have to close yourself

This is where we stop short of a clean answer. The listing publishes no waist, hip or inseam figure — only a size range and a 1–3 cm tolerance note. That leaves three real unknowns for a buyer.

First, the top of the range. Published NBA charting from Nike maps S–3XL to numeric 30–50 by waist and hip, so sizes 4XL through 6XL have no direct reference equivalent to check against. Second, length. No inseam is given, and there is no tall version offered here; Nike's own chart notes that tall cuts add roughly 5 cm of leg length, and buyers elsewhere make the same point in reverse, advising people to follow the official chart because going up a size mostly adds width and barely changes length.

Third, the waistband. Community reports on authentic NBA shorts split. One buyer at 173 cm and 82 kg took an XL and called the cut normal; a buyer in a basketball jersey forum described the waistband as snug even at the correct numeric size.

"To me it feels very constricting. Almost like very tight shape wear." — basketball jersey forum buyer, on an authentic NBA short at his usual size

That is category feedback about NBA shorts generally, not a measurement of this listing, and the honest position is that we cannot settle it from one pair in one size. If you dislike any pressure at the waist, ask the seller for the relaxed waistband measurement in your size before you order.

Print, seams and five wash cycles

Cheap printed sportswear usually fails at the print border, so that is what we looked at hardest. After five cycles of wash and air dry, the 3D print on our pair showed no lifting or cracking at the edges, the straight hem stayed even, and the seams showed no loose threads. We inspected at 4x magnification, which tells you the print is applied to fabric that took the decoration well — not that every unit off the line behaves identically. Buyer feedback on black basketball shorts elsewhere praises breathable fabric and neat stitching generally:

"The fabric is extremely breathable… black is a classic that goes with everything, the workmanship is fine, the stitching is even, no loose threads at all." — buyer review, translated from Chinese

Treat both of those as a single-unit result and a category impression. Neither is a substitute for seeing the print edge on the specific pair you are sent.

Price and value

At $8.06 this sits well below branded basketball shorts and priced like a basic. The construction we received does not read like a basic: the four-way stretch, the straight hem, and the clean print border are the parts we would expect to see cut first at this price and they were not. Where the money is not spent is on information — no measurement table, no inseam, no fabric weight — and that is the trade you are making.

How we would buy it

1. Measure your waist and hip, then ask the seller for the relaxed waistband and inseam in the size you intend to buy.
2. If you are between sizes and want length, note that sizing up in NBA charting mostly adds width, and no tall option is listed here.
3. Ask for close-ups of the print edge and the waistband seam before paying.

Everything else about the short — the black base, the printed front, the straight leg, the sports-and-summer intent — arrived as described. It is a warm-weather casual short that should survive a normal summer of wear; it just will not tell you in advance whether it will fit the way you want.