The Best Basketball Shorts for Men Offer Nothing-But-Net Style

Welcome to SHORT WEEK SHORTS WEEK, GQ Recommends’ appropriately abridged ode to the summeriest and calf-baringest of bottoms. Whether you’re a big-and-baggy boy, an above-the-knee fella, or somewhere in between, we’ve got all the thoughts, takes, and, yes, recommendations to make this your greatest, leggiest, most stylish shorts season yet.

The best basketball shorts for men often mirror the eras they’re born into. In the 1970s, ultra-short shorts typified the overt sexiness of the decade. In the early aughts, shorts of gargantuan proportions ran parallel with the throwback jams popularized on MTV. Today, the shorts you’re most likely to spot on the pros fall somewhere in the middle, even as the NBA’s stylistic influence only grows stronger. Between their on-court sneakers and off-court tunnel swerves, 2023’s best-dressed hoopers remain some of the most reliable fashion bellwethers in the world. Naturally, that extends to their shorts—which are now, more than ever, legitimate must-haves.

To be clear, the shorts we’re talking about here are a far cry from the “you know I had to do it to ‘em” chino variety. Cut from hyper-breathable mesh and often adorned with retro-indebted piping on the legs and waistband, they’re designed for lazy Sunday errands as much as the hardwood. You might not spot them in the next batch of Adam Sandler paparazzi pics, but at a buzzy brunch spot in Miami? Almost definitely. Heck, you might even see them on your preferred NBA menswear plate, as he swaggers his way through the underbelly of the arena, dopp kit in hand, nodding to the cameras while he goes. When you do, think of us. Because in that moment, you’ll pause the game and realize: Oh, those are the best basketball shorts for men. And I need a pair—STAT.