Your last-minute NBA Christmas gift guide: Shirts, art, bobbleheads, and more

What's the perfect gift for an NBA fan? We've got you covered

By Matt Moore

Dec 22, 2016 at 5:13 pm ET • 4 min read

OK, there are just hours until Christmas morning. You're scrambling to find that last-minute gift to get there just in time for when you're going to see that NBA super-fan in your life. I am here to help you. Let's Christmas this thing.

SOCKS

Yes, that's right, socks. The worst gift you can get the rest of the planet is a great gift for NBA fans. Stance Socks makes phenomenal, stylish ones. The "casual logo" ones feelmore stylish and less "requisite athletic wear."

The split-logo designs on the "core" versionsare great as well.

The legends collection is always solid as well, particularly this Lakers West/Chamberlain combo:

Stance also has underwear, and a special holiday pair of socks which are pretty fire, as far as Christmas socks go:

T-SHIRTS

Everyone loves gear to show you're a real fan. Vintage t-shirts are always a good call, and easy to find all over. A lot of artists have done cool takeoffs, though. Sir Wrangle Lot on TeePublic blends pop culture brands with NBA players, and the results are pretty great. This one, as an example, is my personal favorite:

This Splash Brothers "Thing 1 and Thing 2" takeoff from Dr. Seuss is solid as well.

And from HoopDynastees, what could be better for Christmas than a shirt with Steven Adams' glaring face all over your chest?

Finally, these nice designs from Daniel J Rowell are both unique and subtle, the best kind of shirt.

HATS

Ball-caps are tired at this point. Snug, warm, pom stocking caps, however, are righteous.

BAGS

Sprayground collaborated with Cavs guard J.R. Smith for this unique backpack.

Sprayground also recently released these fun team backpacks for the Cavs, Warriors and Bulls:

ART

Lot of good art choices, but I always recommend starting with Jacob Weinstein's FreeDarko collection.

From there, Ryan Simpson does some great work, though you'll have to have it come belated. Which is fine if you're on vacation or they're on vacation or you won't see them until later. They'll never know!

And for the Cavs' fan in your life:

FOR THE SUPER-KOBE FAN

For only 72 hours over Christmas weekend, Panini is offering a special Kobe Bryant limited edition, autographed card.

There's also a Kobe Bryant "Heroes and Villains" collection, which is pretty great for a stocking stuffer.

The rest of the Panini Eternal collection is great, including special edition Bernard King and Nate Archibald cards.

TOYS

How about a Golden State Big 4 bobblehead collection?

For a Boston fan, you're not going to find anything better than this Bill Russell bobblehead which doubles as a "count the rings" argument.

FOR THE CAVS/WARRIORS FAN IN YOUR LIFE

This is either a really fun, or really cruel gift.

VIDEO GAMES

It's NBA 2K17. Never make this complicated.

JERSEYS

I won't link to specific jerseys here, but I will give you two rules.

Obvious jerseys are pointless. Don't buy someone a Jordan Bulls jersey. Don't go for the Kobe or Shaq Lakers jersey. Go for something more obscure. An Alex English Nuggets jersey. If it's a Bulls fan, go for someone that person loved from the team that made them a fan.
Make it clear to them those jerseys should be worn to sporting events, or in the home only. And if at any point they wear them to any sort of social occasion outside of the context of a sporting event, you reserve the right to revoke that gift and then burn it in front of them.

BOOKS AND DATA

Synergy Sports is offering access to their play-by-play data on a special monthly subscription. So when you read stats on Twitter or in posts about how a player performs in pick and roll, that's where they can find them. It's a reasonable monthly subscription, if a little pricey, but if that person in your life is an NBA nerd, he's going to absolutely freak out over the numbers he can pour over.
Jonathan Abrams' book on the preps-to-pros generation is insightful and asks truly interesting questions.
Andy Glockner's opus on the rise of statistical evaluation in the NBA and the methods team use in team-building is a fascinating read.
David Halberstam's "Breaks of the Game" is considered a legendary NBA book, which covers the rise and fall of the 1980 Blazers and you'll find a lot of modern NBA personalities referenced. The book also serves as an important criticism point to discuss how player agency and individual expression has changed in the last 30 years.
Jacki MacMullen's brilliant book "When the Game Was Ours" on Bird vs. Magic takes you away from a macro look at the league and focuses on the intensity of the rivalry between two legends.
If you want to help someone learn about the GOAT, Michael Jordan, you can go with "The Life" by Roland Lazenby, "The Jordan Rules" by Sam Smith, and Halberstam's "Playing For Keeps."
And for the sneakerhead in your life, SLAM Kicks' "Basketball Sneakers That Changed The Game" is a great coffee-table book.