Updated
Dec 27, 2018 If you’re a true NBA superfan, you might own a jersey from your favorite player—sometimes at a cost of well over $150 per jersey depending on the player and style. But what happens when you purchase a jersey only to see that player go to a new team through a trade or as a free agent?
Well, you can get a free replacement jersey with an eligible player’s name from the new team—or one with any player from the old team—through the Jersey Assurance program. That means no matter where your favorite players go, you can get your jersey replaced with one from the new team.
Better yet, if you’re an American Express cardholder, you get an extended guarantee.
How Does the Amex Jersey Assurance Program Work?
The program is offered through the NBAStore and allows you to return the jersey of any eligible player who goes to a new team within 90 days of your purchase from Store.NBA.com.
However, if you use your Amex card at Store.NBA.com, Fanatics.com, or the NBA flagship store in New York City to buy the jersey of a player who joins a different team within 360 days from your purchase, the Jersey Assurance plan will still replace it.
The replacement is free to you. The program covers not only the cost of the jersey, but the cost of shipping the original and replacement jerseys, too. If you want to upgrade your jersey in the transaction, you will pay the difference between the original and new jersey style.
Jersey Assurance only covers players who are on a professional NBA team’s active roster; that means you can’t get your favorite player jerseys from the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls replaced. If a player is traded due to injury, gets suspended or fired, or “anything similar,” the replacement isn’t covered. If the entire team moves, that’s also not covered—nor is it replaceable if the player switches roles, positions, or numbers but remains on the same team.
One of the most important details is that you need to make your claim right away once you see a transfer has been announced, either by the losing or receiving team. You only have 14 days from the date the transfer is made public to ask for your replacement jersey—after that, you’re stuck with your obsolete gear.
Thankfully, it’s incredibly easy to file a claim for replacement. All you’ll need to do is complete a Jersey Assurance claim form online, and then return your original jersey with the prepaid shipping label sent to you via email. The entire transaction should only take about two weeks—so you’ll be back to cheering in your jersey in no time.