“Things go in cycles, and people want to do things that are radical and new,” Richardson said of the ill-fated 1990s NBA jersey movement. “But when the marketing moved away from representing the game, the sport and the athlete – and moved toward what will sell on a trash can to a 10-year-old – people started chasing trends.

“We had to reach a point where we said, ‘Wait a minute, kids don’t admire the NBA because they want a cartoon on a trash can. They look up to these players and want to play this game at a high level.' That’s what we need to tap into. We try not to be impacted by trends.”