Ray Meeks, assistant manager at Sports Addition in Pemberton Square mall, takes down a 2004 retro Ron Artest Indiana Pacers jersey. (Meredith SpencerThe Vicksburg Post)

[6/16/04]With the Los Angeles Lakers chasing their fourth NBA championship in five years, it would seem fitting that Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal jerseys would be the top sellers in clothing stores.

But with the current fashion trends, one would more likely see the name of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain or Magic Johnson stripped across the back of a fan’s jersey.

Throwback and retro jerseys have become all the rage in the past year.

So where has the craze come from?

“Rappers, TV, videos,” said Ray Meeks, 20, who is an assistant manager at Sports Addition in Pemberton Square mall.

Thanks to rap artists such as Nelly, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg, the jerseys have taken the country by storm.

Meeks and store manager Bubba Nettles estimate that their store sells roughly 10-15 throwback jerseys per month. And the same goes just a few stores down at Hibbett.

Greg Stauble has worked for different Hibbett retail stores for seven years and began working at Vicksburg’s store about a year ago.

“All the other stores I’ve been at really weren’t in an urban market,” Stauble said. “When I got here, (the throwback craze) was huge.”

He attributes the growing trend with a sense of nostalgia and connection with former players.

“With the older guys the late-20s, early-30s guys who grew up watching them they want to get the jerseys of their favorite players,” Stauble said.

Some of the top sellers in the area have been O.J. Simpson, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Doug Williams and Isaiah Thomas. But the most popular are Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls jersey from his rookie year and Jordan’s red-white-and-blue Washington Bullets jersey.

Replica throwbacks range anywhere from $100-200 in price, while authentic throwbacks can soar as high as $400.

The throwback is simply the jersey of a legendary player in the old style of uniform. Another popular trend is the retro, or rewind, jersey. Not to be confused with the throwbacks, retro jerseys feature current players’ names in the team’s old style uniform.

Jerel Jones, 11, was shopping Wednesday for a Detroit Pistons jersey to match his Lakers jersey. When asked if he has any throwbacks, Jones said he owns Magic Johnson’s college jersey, when he played for Michigan State.

“It was just nice,” Jones said of the jersey. “And he was a legend anyway.”

Meeks said many customers buy the jerseys for the player whose name is on the back. Others spend $150 or $200 on a jersey and don’t know who they are wearing.

Nettles said one of his customers purchased the jersey of former Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas and had to ask who Unitas was.

“They get it because they say Aw, I see these shoes right here and I see this jersey. They’re a real nice combination,'” Meeks said. “They don’t know the history on this player. They don’t know if this player stood up for something in the league, if he protested against certain things. They don’t do it for any significance.”

Jones agreed that many of his friends buy the jerseys because of their style.

“People buy Converse (shoes) to match their jerseys,” said Jones, who is in town from Kansas City for the summer to visit his father, Gary Davenport, 30. “I’ve seen some people where they probably don’t even know what they’re buying. They’ll be buying it just to be buying it.”

A few customers even purchase jerseys just because of the price, Meeks said.

“If the throwback jersey were $30, they wouldn’t buy it,” he said. “They have to get the most expensive one so they can just tell their friends, Man, I just spent $150 on this jersey.'”

Despite the popularity of the new styles, sales in ordinary team jerseys have remained steady.

“A lot of people will come in and buy the regular ones because they’re a lot cheaper,” Nettles said. “The demand for both is about equal, but there’s more money to be made in the throwbacks because they cost twice as much.”

Business is booming and the throwback craze seems to be at its peak, but trends always change, Meeks said.

“A lot of people always imitate whatever they see,” he said. “At one time the jewelry was the big fashion. You had the long chains and the watches with all the diamonds, that was one thing that people did.

“Now it’s the jerseys. That’s what everybody’s on. They want to be like the rappers.”