The Numbers on the Board podcast is one of the best basketball shows out there. The hosts of the show have linked with Fanatics to create a limited-edition NBA capsule, dubbed the “Hometown Pride Capsule,” which dropped today, Tuesday, May 20. This collection features premium tees and hoodies for the Bulls, Knicks, Lakers, and Raptors, with each team repping a co-host from the Numbers on the Board podcast. This follows their successful, sold-out collaboration with Jimmy Butler’s Big Face Coffee in March.
Designed by the Enjoy team, the collection blends team loyalty with a modern streetwear sensibility. Pieces range from $48 to $90 and are available exclusively on EnjoyBball.com. Ahead of the collection’s launch, creator Kenny Beecham spoke with The Source regarding the collection and the NBA’s current happenings.
The Source: Give me some background on your Bulls fandom.
Kenny Beecham: Sure. Born and raised on the West Side of Chicago, in the Austin area. I didn’t have cable or anything, so when I was younger, I could watch basketball only through WGN. And WGN had the Bulls at that time. In 2003, I vividly remember my first time watching the Bulls play: Allen Iverson versus Jamal Crawford. I think AI had about 40, Jamal had a high thirties, and I became a Bulls fan since that moment. It helps that both my parents are from here, and my dad is a diehard. I was born in ’96, so I was born right as MJ and they are doing their thing. So it’s pretty easy for me to become a Bulls fan. Bulls, White Sox, Bears, Blackhawks. Just being around Pops, Pops had it. So I got pictures early on in Bulls gear, like Bulls onesies and stuff like that.
The new capsule collection, each team featured, aligns with one of the co-hosts from your podcast. How did that personal connection influence the creative process, and what does this collection mean to you on a deeper level?
It means everything, right? I think one of the best things about our show is our diversity in fandom. I’m a Bulls fan, Mike is a Lakers fan, P is a Knicks fan, and Derek has a bunch of teams. The Raptors happen to be one of them. So it was pretty cool to get this opportunity with Fanatics and the NBA because I’ve always wanted to collaborate on this level. I think it’s always something you dream about, or at least something I’ve always dreamed about, to be able to customize something with a Bulls logo. The Bulls logo is so iconic. The Lakers logo is so iconic. I think the four we picked are iconic logos and iconic basketball markets. So when the opportunity came across two years ago, it was an easy, easy yes from my side.
You mentioned Pierre and his love for the Knicks. How hard is he dealing with his fandom right now?
I thought it would be more crazy. Pierre’s my first cousin, so we grew up together. I’ve seen him at the highs of the highs and the lows of the lows, but the majority of our life, his Knicks have been bad. So I was thinking that with him being one game away from the conference finals, he would be popping his collar a little bit more, but he’s very tame because I think he’s low-key kind of scared for the Celtics to come back. So I think he’s waiting for them to win before he really pops off and talks all the trash.
You spoke about making sure that it has meaning toward each piece in the collection, being different than what someone else can get if they want to search for Lakers or Bulls or Knicks or Raptors merch. What were the complexities, or what did you learn most from when digging into developing those pieces?
I mainly learned that these things take a long time. It came across the table in 2023, so it took two years to develop it. I think the NBA and Fanatics did a fantastic job walking us through the process because we didn’t know much about licensing, and all of these situations made it so long. I’m a creative guy, but I’m terrible with design. So we had a team on hand putting together different designs, and I would try to give my input when I saw fit. Then we landed on this design. Again, I think it’s perfect, given the constraints that you have when you’re dealing with this type of thing.
So I learned how long the process is because we live in the instant gratification world with the internet, right? So you think you’re going to collaborate with the NBA in 2023. I’m like, “Oh, I can’t wait to tell my pops, I can’t wait to get him a hoodie.” And it’s like, “Wait, pause it a little bit. It’s going to take some time to develop all of these things.” I’m so happy that it’s right around the corner because the team has been working so long and hard on it.
Before this collection drops, you had the opportunity to sit with Adam Silver, and a lot of people don’t even get the opportunity to have access to Adam Silver. How does that feel for you as a creator, but then also just as a rising voice in being able to provide fan perspective, but also an analysis of basketball?
It’s surreal. It’s not something I could’ve predicted seven years ago when I started this journey of doing content on the NBA. Accessing the top shot caller of my favorite league is an insane experience. When it came across the table, we were trying to figure out exactly how we could welcome him to the show, but also feel organic to our fans and everything. We worked so hard on it. The team behind the scenes worked so hard to make it happen. Then we worked so hard to make it a good piece of content for our fans that it wasn’t until after Adam Silver left the Zoom call that we looked at each other and asked, “Did that just happen?” I don’t think it hit until it happened, and then it hit again once it was published, and we saw the fans’ support as well. So I think we’re doing something that none of us anticipated would be possible. Collaborations with the NBA, talking to Adam Silver, we just had the Larry O’Brien trophy in the studio a couple of days ago. These are things that I couldn’t even dream about, and it just continues to get better and better.
I’m going to hit you with some rapid-fire basketball questions. NBA Finals picks, who’s playing?
NBA finals? I’m going to go… Ooh, that’s tough. I don’t want to pick OKC because we have a Game Seven against the Denver Nuggets. So I’m going to Minnesota. Minnesota gets over the hump, gets to the finals. To go against the Minnesota Pacers is such an interesting final. So I’m going to go there. Sorry, Knicks.
If you had to put on your hater cap, what team would you want not to make the NBA finals, or to get there and lose in seven games?
Oh, that’s tough. I don’t want to give a cop-out answer, but I have so much love for all of these teams. I feel like I know somebody personally on every team that’s participating right now: between Mikal Bridges, between Tyrese Haliburton, Julian Strawther, who just had the big game, Alex Caruso, and then Anthony Edwards. So I have a, I’m going to put in quotation marks, “friend,” if you will, on every single team. So it’s a weird spot for me because I try not to let my biases play a role in my analysis, but I’m biased against every team right now because I have somebody that will win regardless.
Who is your favorite player to watch of the teams and players that are left?
Favorite player to watch is 100% Anthony Edwards. He’s just electric, both sides of the ball. Whether you’re a person that loves great pull-up three-point shooting, and he’s got that now, getting to the basket—even though he’s been missing around more in his playoffs than before—but getting to the basket, explosive guy. He’s got the “encore” personality that I think everybody also finds their way to like. So it’s Anthony Edwards.