Best Gifts for Basketball Players – 22 Great Basketball Gift Ideas

Is the gift meant for a basketball fan who is also a bookworm? Then, why don't you get something that combines both passions!

Check out "Basketball: A Love Story" where acclaimed journalists Jackie MacMullan, Rafe Bartholomew, and Dan Klores embarked on a mission to interview a staggering lineup of basketball legends.

Or take a look the modern basketball bible “The Book of Basketball” by well-known podcaster and media personality Bill Simmons, or the teen-targeted coming-of-age "This Was Never About Basketball" story .

My Tip: You can just browse the list of top-selling basketball books on Amazon or check out my Top-5 Basketball books!

Socks used to be a boring present you got from your grandma. Not anymore!

High-performance basketball socks like the Nike Elites come in hundreds of different colorways and are a must-have for every style-conscious basketball player! They improve traction and comfort of your feet, provide additional arch support, and wick away sweat much better than average socks. And to some basketball freaks, they are even collector items!

My Tip: Especially younger basketball players will be very happy about a pair of new and stylish Nike Elites!

This is a great gift for basketball coaches. The magnetic tiles allow you to demonstrate plays without drawing confusing circles, X's, and arrows. On the back of this board, you can also keep track of fouls and timeouts which can come in handy during the heat of the final minutes of a tight game.

My Tip: Another great accompanying gift is the book "Blackboard Strategies - Over 200 Plays from successful coaches", the receiver of this present will never run out of plays again!

A mini basketball hoop that you can mount over any door is great fun for kids of all ages. But I can tell you from my own experience that adults can waste a complete afternoon shooting on a hoop like that as well!

My Tip: For its size, the SKLZ Pro Mini Basketball is surprisingly sturdy and will last many games and dunking sessions!

Looking for a funny gift for your basketball-crazy coffee drinker? Get him the mug with a hoop and he can practice his free throws with a lump of sugar first thing in the morning!

It also has a charming back story as it was created when 8-year-old Max had the ingenious idea to put a basketball hoop on a mug during art class.

His parents saw the potential and started the family business "Maxis's Creations" which has sold over 800.000 mugs to date!

An agility ladder like the SKLZ ladder is a great tool for ambitious basketball players who want to improve their footwork and coordination. Almost every good basketball coach will do some type of agility work during pre-season, so working at it at home is also a great way to attract the attention of the coach.

My Tip: Check out this Youtube video for the best agility ladder drills for basketball players.

NBA players are always sparking new fads. But since Allen Iverson started wearing shooting sleeves, these never really went away. These days, almost every NBA player is wearing some kind of compression pants - and so do a lot of kids mimicking their NBA heroes!

This particular arm sleeve is designed to warm up your arm quickly. It's a great option for cold gyms or outdoor sessions and keeps your arms warm enough so that shooting is fun!

If you play a lot of basketball you can never have enough jerseys to play in. There is nothing worse than having to wear tight-fitting shirts that screw up your shot because everything else is in the laundry!

Reversible Jerseys are very popular among basketball players for a simple reason: It's very easy to switch teams by just turning the jersey inside out! As a player who wears one of these jerseys you are almost guaranteed to be the coach's favorite 🙂

My tip: I like the Nike standard Issue reversible jersey shown here which comes in a lot of different colors and is very comfortable to wear.

Watch any college or NBA game and you will see a lot of players wearing compression gear. Compression pants, shorts, and elbow sleeves have really become omnipresent.

And there are many reasons why: Compression pants keep muscles warm and the blood flowing, they reduce the injury risk and they are also just simply fashionable right now! If you want to find out more about compression pants read my article here.

My Tip: Regular compression pants like these Nike tights will do for most players, but for guys who attack the basket a lot, padded shorts like the Mc David Compression Shorts might be a better fit.

The 2K series is by far the most popular basketball game on the market and a must-have for every basketball player that plays video games. Even NBA players are obsessed with their 2K ratings and spend a lot of their free time chasing titles in front of the TV.

My Tip: Make sure that you get the most current version for the right console. Nothing is more annoying than receiving a game for the XBOX when you only possess a PS4!

The AllNet Shooter is an innovative design that is attached to the fingers and spreads out the hand to allow shooters to better palm the ball. This will form a habit that makes it easier to control the direction of the shot and avoids the balls "slipping" off of one or the other side of your hand.

This is a great gift idea for players who want to become a deadly three-point shooter and are serious about improving their shooting skills.

Fortunately, there are a lot of backpacks on the market that solve the problem. There are backpacks made especially for sports practice like this model from MIER that features a ball net and side pockets for water bottles. But more often you see backpacks from Nike or Under Armour that can also be used as book bags and are very popular among high school kids.

My Tip: The Nike Elite Pro backpack is a great basketball gift idea for high school kids who can also use it as a (very stylish) bookbag! Also, check my article about the best basketball backpacks to get more info.

The DribbleUp Smart Basketball allows you to work on your dribbling in a completely new way. Your virtual coach guides you through your workouts and the interactive dribble speed meter measures the speed of your crossover, dribble, and hesitation moves.

This is a great gift for every basketball player who is serious about improving their game and loves to geek out on the latest tech and mobile apps.

I still remember the birthday when I got my first jersey. I was so happy that I didn't take it off for a complete week!

There are many different versions of basketball jerseys: From affordable replicas which are great for kids to the regular swingman edition for the more knowledgeable fan to the much more expensive authentic jerseys which are perfect for complete basketball nuts.

My Tip: Don't know which player's jersey to get? Check out this list of the most popular and best-selling NBA jerseys.

There are a lot of different options available: For the occasional basketball player, an outdoor ball like the Spalding NBA Street Ball should do. A ball like the Wilson Evolution is often used in high schools and colleges and very popular among basketball players.

If you are looking for something special, consider the official Wilson leather NBA ball , it's not cheap, but playing with the same ball as your heroes in the NBA is a very special treat!

My Tip: Find out if the recipient of the present has a favorite basketball and get him/her a new one. Otherwise, check out my articles about the best indoor or outdoor basketballs.

When I was young my parents got me a basketball hoop for our driveway - probably the best gift I ever received. You really can't count how many hours I played on that hoop and how much fun I had! Especially for younger kids that like to shoot hoops, a portable basketball hoop is probably one of the best gifts you can make!

There is a wide variety of baskets on the market: there are very affordable portable basketball hoops like the Lifetime 1221 that are perfect for kids and more professional hoops that can endure long dunking sessions like the Silverback NXT .

My Tip: Check out my articles about the best portable basketball hoops and the best in-ground basketball hoops to find the perfect fit for your driveway or backyard!

This is something I wish I had as a kid. I used to spend hours shooting free throws, and if you don't have a rebounder you spend most of the time chasing the ball down the driveway. A ball return system not only allows you to do a lot more shooting in the same time period, but it also lets you practice catch and shoot situations you couldn't simulate otherwise.

There are expensive and professional versions like the iC3 Basketball Shot Trainer , but there are also more budget-friendly return nets like the Spalding Back Atcha .