"NBA-denied" authentication / Meigray - thoughts?

Off the bat, I'm absolutely not looking to cast any negativity toward Meigray - in every experience I've had with them they've been very response and reasonable and this experience doesn't change that. I don't want to turn this into a bashing thread, but am genuinely interested to get some opinions on my recent experience - having recently purchased NBA game-worn jersey through Goldin and having the NBA block an attempted authentication through Meigray Authentication.

The short story is, I recently purchased an NBA game-worn jersey from the Goldin Spring Auction (which came with multiple authentications including a definitive photo-match from Resolution Photomatching). As I have done for every NBA jersey in my collection, I wanted to ensure I also paired it with Meigray paperwork, so reached out to Meigray Authentication to facilitate it (should be noted that the jersey included a unique tag/identifier/serial number as all modern jerseys now do). I was advised this request would need to go past the NBA for approval, and subsequently advised that the NBA had not granted Meigray permission to review/authenticate the jersey.

On one hand I absolutely understand why the NBA would choose to intervene - it potentially provides the ultimate legitimacy to jerseys that "disappear" from locker rooms and encourages this sort of behaviour. On the other hand, having been told that the NBA Game Worn Jersey program doesn't cover all games and jerseys means that plenty of legitimately acquired jerseys can't be authenticated by the NBA's game worn jersey partner (i.e. gifts from players, purchased via team open days, even those thrown into the stands!). It also constrains the supply/availability of "validated" jerseys and dramatically limits the channels people have to access jerseys with this level of validation.

With all this said, what do other people think? Is this ultimately something that strengthens transparency, reduces the incentive for people to do the wrong thing, and provides buyers with a higher level of assurance? Alternatively is this intervention over-the-top and potentially a little self-interested on the part of the NBA? I think there's probably elements of both in there but keen to hear what others think :)

It's not a new concept concerning the NBA. Back during the Bulls dynasty in the 1990s, the team wouldn't comment on anything that didn't come directly from them. Players had multiple jerseys, but the team's claim was that everyone on the team (including MJ) only got 2 of each jersey per year, a claim debunked by more than one hobby-friendly person with locker room access. Of course, the Bulls had friends in the hobby too who used to promote the same claim...one was a writer of the era for SCD, and his written claims were questioned when it was discovered that he had bought numerous uniforms from the team's charity arm, and after his articles showed up in SCD, would call dealers about buying some of those pieces, using his written claim as the "hook" for why you should purchase his items (major conflict of interest).

In short, good reasons may exist, but it's also just as likely that the NBA is trying to limit the aftermarket in various ways for selfish reasons.

Dave Miedema