Why Do Aussies Wear NBA Jerseys To Festivals?

Perhaps it's the fact that the game is played with a round ball that's bigger than one's fist – that does tend to make Australians a bit nervous. Maybe it's the reality that no, we, a predominantly white country, can't jump. Whatever it is, basketball has never gained a strong foothold in a sporting nation dominated by three codes of football and the baggy green.

With this in mind, the increase of NBA jerseys throughout youth culture is rather astounding. More than ever before – even in the halcyon days of the early-'90s when basketball cards were a religion and people actually watched NBL games – guys and girls are turning to the iconic sporting strips from the other side of the Pacific, the resurgence driven by men called LeBron and Carmello. “The '90s are back in, that's what it is,” says Ty Joyner, store manager of Culture Kings urban wear store on Brisbane's Queen Street Mall. “It was a '90s type of thing and it's certainly come back to play. Jordan's legacy will stay there forever; it's kinda been what you'd call a staple type of singlet.”

Mesh meat and potatoes if you will, this “staple” significance means that even if you don't know your Kobe from your KG, you're still going to be familiar, obviously not with flavours and textures, but with the colours, designs, logos and names. NBA singlets are now a standard sight at summer music festivals, and it's not uncommon to see a roaming pack of youths adorned in ballin' apparel, each repping their team of choice in a setting about as far removed from the parquet floor as possible. “I would have said a couple of years ago that it was more your basketball fans,” remarks Joyner when asked if there's a typical type of customer purchasing strips anymore. Now, it seems, there's no specific demographic whatsoever. “These days I think it's just the fashion; it's become more of a fashion [thing] than taking something away from the game itself.”

So if it's not the freak athleticism, the gravity defying slams or the incredible tenacity and speed of one of the world's most exciting sports, then what's pulling people towards the purchase of an NBA jersey? Musicians themselves. Joyner relates: “You see Snoop dropping an LA Lakers top and then everyone wants an LA Lakers top; you get Jay Z taking over Brooklyn [Nets], so hip hop and Jay Z fans are going to go out and buy a Brooklyn jersey.”

Los Angeles and New York tie up the worlds of east and west coast rap quite nicely. Venture to a hardcore show, however, and it's a completely different scene, with Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls apparel preferred among the circle pit dwellers. Kim 'Chewy' Choo from Melbourne metalcore heavyweights Feed Her To The Sharks has seen the greens and reds spin and swing from the stage, and says that the NBA's popularity now drives merch ideas for acts of their ilk. “I know a lot of bands from the last few years that have made jerseys up for their merch 'cause they look pretty cool,” the guitarist says. “Even if someone doesn't like basketball they're happy to wear Bulls [gear]; it's pretty fashionable I guess.”

Ironically, Chewy supports the Nets, but he assures us he's been with them long before Hova threw his weight behind the franchise and removed them from the cracked roads of New Jersey. For guys like him, though – real fans – what's to make of all this: positive proliferation or bastardisation? “I've got some mates that are hardcore NBA fans and they kinda get annoyed when they see a kid wearing a jersey that doesn't really follow the sport. But that's just personal opinion,” he finishes democratically.

The flipside to this is that the spike in jersey sightings is simply being dictated by music festivals in general. Bands used to be the only thing that mattered; now they're part of an encompassing experience that can see you launching skywards in a bungee rocket one moment, dancing with masked men on stilts the next. Festivals are now designed to liven up the senses, and NBA singlets offer punters many shades of colour to help paint the party palette. And really, who wants to be part of the crowd? It's about dunking on top of them.

Ed correction: There are two codes of rugby and one code of Aussie Rules in this country. Depending on which state you're in, the priorities differ…