Basketball season is here and it’s time to bring your nail art A-game this year. At courtside or on the couch, you can sport game-day looks that'll have everyone cheering. We’ve got inspiration from team colors to intricate details so there’s lots of ways to score big with your next manicure. We hope you have fun with these slam-dunk basketball nail art ideas!
Basketball Nails for Devoted Fans
Three Point Shot
This artist created her basketball nails to wear to a game at Madison Square Garden. Check out the dotted detailing that makes the B-ball texture so realistic. She scored big time with this design.
One of the issues in creating basketball nail art is getting the colors just right. After all, orange is an uncommon shade for nail polish. However, the LDS Color Craze Collection has orange hues for every occasion including basketball. You can match your team colors, outfit, and bring out the beauty of your skin tone all at once.
LDS Color Craze Collection - Orange
Get an Assist from Nail Wraps and Stickers
It’s perfectly legal to do basketball nails with stickers or decals. Don’t ever let anyone call a foul on that. We have busy lives and need a dime to boost our look. Also, it’s fun to get inspo from stickers and think about how to adapt them for a personalized manicure.
If you’re down because your nail art skills feel lacking, just remember Muggsy Bogues. He was only 5-foot 3-inches tall and still played 14 seasons as a point guard in the NBA. That’s right, he was the absolute shortest pro player ever and still kicked butt for The Charlotte Hornets and three other teams. He was fast, agile, and excellent at defense. When he retired, he took over as head coach of the WNBA Charlotte Sting.
Team Spirit
The top five pro basketball teams for the 2024-2025 season are the Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, and Golden State Warriors. Or if you’re an NCAA college basketball fan, check out the Kansas Jayhawks, Duke Blue Devils, Michigan State Spartans, Michigan State Spartans, UConn Huskies, and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Wise nail pros will be googling those team colors to have the correct polish shades on hand for fans.
Basketball but Make It Manga
Did you know that pro basketball is played in more than fifteen nations? Besides the USA, there are games in China, Spain, Türkiye, Mexico, Argentina, Lithuania, Italy, Greece, Germany, the Philippines, Brazil, and Serbia. Even tiny Portugal has a pro league with a dozen teams. You probably recognize some of these places because the US teams recruit from them.
Basketball has a universal appeal even in countries like Japan where it’s only taken root recently. Here you can see a fan’s basketball nails for the manga Slam Dunk. Did you know you can use acrylic markers for nail art? They might be just what you need for intricately detailed designs like this.
Acrylic Paint Marker
Having a Ball
These glossy basketball nails simply show a love of the game.
Here’s some B-ball trivia to tickle your brain:
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has the record for the most points (38,387) scored in NBA history.
- Wilt Chamberlain is the only player to ever score 100 points in a single game back in 1962.
- With 17 titles, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers concurrently have the most NBA championships.
- Michael Jordan was MVP each time he won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls.
- The tallest players in NBA history are 7-foot 7-inches tall: Manute Bol from Sudan and Gheorghe Mureșan from Romania. Both played for the Washington Bullets (now Wizards).
Glitter Basketball Nails
Now that we looked up basketball facts, here’s one more to shock you. Shaquille O’Neal made only one three-point shot in his entire NBA career. Maybe he needed some sparkly nail art for inspiration!
Did you know you can find orange glitter polish in the DND gel collection? That brand rarely retires colors so you can continue to find your favorites for years to come.
DND Gel Nail Polish Duo - 929 Orange Aura
Cat Eye Nails with Basketball Accents
Talk about team colors-this artist went all-out downtown for a beautiful finish. Look at those blue nails with an effervescent shine from the cat eye polish. Meanwhile, the basketball nails have a touchable orange peel texture like a real basketball. Hard gel and embossing or spider gel would do the trick.
Cat Eye Gel Polish Collection
NBA Nails
Did you know that the NBA was originally called the BAA (Basketball Association of America) when it started in 1946? The inaugural game was between the New York Knickerbockers (later Knicks) and the Toronto Huskies in Toronto. That’s right, the first professional American basketball game was in Canada!
Regarding the red, white, and blue NBA logo, that’s the silhouette of a real player named Jerry West, who’s now in the Hall of Fame.
WNBA Nails
Here you can see Hannah O’Flynn’s WNBA fan nails. The Women’s National Basketball Association’s first season was in 1997. There are now a dozen teams like the Seattle Storm and Los Angeles Sparks that play May to September. Although this league does not yet have the same popularity and support as the NBA, it’s growing.
The court size is the same for both men’s and women’s games. The main difference is a slight reduction in the three-point line distance. But the baskets are a standard 10 feet up from the floor, which makes Lisa Leslie’s slam dunk in 2002 all the more amazing. Jam it, girl!
Conclusion
Are you coming up with basketball nail ideas now? We hope you found all the inspiration you needed. Basketball nails can focus on various aspects of the game, from the ball itself, to team colors and logos, to individual players. It’s a good thing the season lasts through June so fans can try all sorts of different basketball manicures! Stock up now on supplies while sales are hot!
Sources:
https://parade.com/living/nba-basketball-trivia
https://www.nba.com/history