NBA Bulls 23 Tee Review: The Parcel Test — How the $5.07 Cotton Fares as the Only Cushioning in the Box

Most cheap graphic tees get reviewed on looks. This one is worth reviewing on logistics, because at $5.07 (listed down from $5.33, SKU 7715849691, marked in stock) it is the kind of item a first-time agent buyer throws into a parcel at the last minute — and then discovers is the only soft thing in the box. We ordered the black 250g heavyweight pure cotton variant, code bu23, in size L, and put it through the same bench routine we use for packing supplies.

Two questions framed the test. Does the cloth that arrives match the four option codes on the listing? And does a single folded tee, packed with a padded box and a boxed figure, do any real protective work in transit? Our testing team photographed the closure, logged damage in millimetres by location, and did not write a word of this card until the photos were filed.

What arrived, weighed and measured

The shirt came in a plain poly mailer with no retail packaging, which is normal at this price and worth knowing if you are buying as a gift. On the postal scale the size L black tee weighed 218 g. Flat on the bench, with digital calipers at four points, it measured as follows.

One number needs a caveat. The listing weights (200g and 250g) describe the fabric per square metre, not the finished garment. Our size L weighed 218 g, which sits closer to what we would expect from the lighter cloth than from a true 250 g/m² knit. Treat the code as a fabric label you are choosing between, not as a promise of a heavy tee, and do not expect heavyweight drape.

Decoding the four option codes

The listing hides four variants behind shorthand that is easy to misread: 250g heavyweight pure cotton black bu23, 250g heavyweight pure cotton white bu23, 200g white 23, and 200g black 23. We ordered black bu23 and received a black crew-neck with a red-and-white outlined print. Our advice is to name both the gram weight and the code in your agent message, in writing, before checkout. Sizes run S through 5XL, so the range covers most adult bodies on paper.

Print and light check

The front graphic reads BULLS above the number 23 in red with white outlines. Under a D65 lamp the red is even, the white outline is crisp at the edges, and there is no registration slip between the two colours. Hold the black cloth up to a window, though, and a hand silhouette shows through clearly. That is a thin summer tee doing exactly what a thin summer tee does — fine over a vest or under an open jacket, less fine as a standalone layer you want opaque.

Packed as the only soft layer

This is where the review earns its keep on this site. We built our reference load — a padded box, a folded garment and a boxed figure — inside a 30 × 22 × 12 cm carton, and used this tee, folded to 26 × 18 cm and 3.2 cm thick, as the only soft material wrapping the figure box. Total parcel weight: 1.28 kg. The tee is thin enough that it compressed to a crease layer rather than a cushion. It wrapped, it did not pad.

The three-drop routine

1. Corner drop from waist height (96 cm) onto flat concrete: a 6 mm scuff on the carton corner, no crush to the figure box, cloth unaffected.
2. Edge drop: the carton edge compressed 2 mm; the folded tee creased along one fold line, no seam split.
3. Face drop: flat landing, no damage logged to the box or garment.

Conclusion: as parcel padding, one thin cotton tee is a wrap and not a cushion. If you are shipping anything breakable alongside it, double the fold or add bubble wrap. If you are shipping garments only, it is entirely adequate, and it survived creasing without permanent marking when re-folded after unpacking.

The number we could not settle

Fit remains the open question. The only buyer signal we found is a category-level comment about NBA-licensed graphic tees, not a report on this shirt, and it carries low confidence for that reason.

“I got the bedazzled one and a medium fits like a large. Really nice shirt though.” — buyer comment on NBA-licensed tee sizing, r/knicks

Read against our 57 cm pit-to-pit reading on a size L, that is at least plausible: this is a genuinely loose cut. But we will not convert one comment into a sizing rule. Ask your agent for flat chest and body-length measurements on the exact variant and size you intend to buy, and size down only if those numbers come back wider than a shirt you already own.

Our working conclusion

At $5.07 this is a competent basic: honest cotton, a print that photographs the way it looks in hand, a size run that reaches 5XL, and a loose cut that layers easily over denim, shorts or an open jacket. It is not heavyweight, it is not opaque, and its parcel-protection value is close to zero beyond keeping things from rubbing. Buy it as clothing, not as packing material, and confirm your measurements before you commit to a label.