Do people buy NBA Cup champions gear? An investigation

After the New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, the scene looked a lot like other title celebrations, complete with championship merchandise for the players to wear. But this was the NBA Cup, a tournament in its third year of existence and still lacking prestige to the point where the Knicks don’t even want to hang a banner for their win.

All of this raises the question: Do fans buy NBA Cup championship gear?

And a natural follow-up: Have you ever seen someone wear NBA Cup champions gear?

To answer those questions, let’s take a look at what’s available.

cop your merch knicks fam 👇😏

🛍️ https://t.co/4hfibmjDJc pic.twitter.com/8s6n3NBT9P

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 17, 2025

The two most obvious items are what the Knicks players wore in Las Vegas.

New Era produced the NBA Cup headgear — a snapback, since a one-size-fits-all approach works best when handing out champions caps. No one has time to ask Karl-Anthony Towns if he’s a size 7 7/8 or an 8. But even for those who prefer fitted caps, there’s some swag with this snapback. Priced at $40, the front of the crown is white and says “2025 Emirates NBA Cup” with “CHAMPIONS” in big stitch lettering next to a very well-designed stitch of the NBA Cup. The strong blue and red lines outlining the word “champions” are made to look like a tournament bracket and are a nice accenting touch. The middle and back two-thirds of the cap are black (as is the cap’s visor) and feature a Knicks logo on the right side and the New Era flag on the left. These hats are billed as “almost gone” on the Knicks team shop and “sold out” on the New Era site, where it says they’re expected to ship on Christmas Eve.

So do people buy NBA Cup champions hats? The answer appears to be yes.

The other piece worn by the players was the black champions T-shirt. It has a lot going on in terms of design elements, but it surprisingly works. The biggest surprise is that the shirt has a Jordan Brand logo on it. How much longer must Michael Jordan haunt the Knicks? A shirt commemorating a Knicks title that isn’t an NBA championship with a Jordan Brand logo feels like that famous MJ meme with the word “kids” in it, but just replace “kids” with “Knicks.”

The Jordan logo, alongside the NBA Cup logo and “champions” all being colored in gold works well against the black shirt. Of course, there is a Knicks logo, but what stands out most on this shirt is the red and blue circular bracket design with an NBA Cup inside of it. Again, it’s a lot, but it looks good.

This shirt sold out on the Knicks online shop in adult sizes and is listed as “almost gone” in youth sizes (only a small is still available as of writing), so people appear to be buying it, as well.

Still available is the Knicks NBA Cup champions T-shirt in the team’s blue and orange colors, priced at $35. The emphasis on the NBA Cup logo is more subtle on this shirt, as it appears underneath the more heavily emphasized “NBA Cup Champion New York Knicks.” Championship gear in Knicks colors, of any kind, is exceedingly rare, but this isn’t the shirt the players wore on the court after winning, so that likely explains why there are still plenty of these available (except in small).

The team shop is also selling a framed 13 x 16 collage featuring a photo of the Knicks holding up the NBA Cup as confetti falls over them for $50. Within that framed picture is something else the NBA should consider making available for fans: How about some replica NBA Cup medals?

Meanwhile, if you’re just really into the NBA Cup and don’t care who wins, there is also a T-shirt available that just has the tournament’s logo on it for $35. Perfect if Rob Lowe ever decides to get floor seats at the next NBA Cup. The product listing says it’s from 2024, but it remains available in all sizes.

What about merchandise from previous years? If the NBA Cup offerings on eBay are any indication, Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks fans treasure their champions merch too much resell, so Knicks fans may want to stock up while they still can. From the Bucks’ NBA Cup victory last season, there are a few bobbleheads available, T-shirts, Panini Instant trading cards and lapel pins. And if you search for “NBA Cup Lakers,” you’ll mostly get … Lakers cups. Of course, in 2023, the competition was still creatively branded the “In-Season Tournament,” so searching with that produces a still limited number of relevant results, including T-shirts, LeBron James bobbleheads and a Max Christie autographed basketball inscribed “2023 NBA Cup Champions.”

While the offerings remain nowhere near what’s made available for league champions, we have significant evidence that people do, in fact, buy NBA Cup champions gear. Whether they wear it in public is another question, though.

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