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Uni Watch

NBA Makes A, Ahem, Statement

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By Phil Hecken

Paraphrasing a slogan you often hear in the business, “Bad news drops on a Friday night.”

Well. Depending on your perspective, Nike “dropped” alternate uniforms (the term for which shant be written here, but if you read the hed, you can probably figure it out) last evening for all 30 teams. I’ll save you any commentary and just post the unis below, but Paul will have a full review of these uniforms on Monday. I’ll include links to the teams websites — by the time you read this they should all have links to stories/pics of the new alternate uniforms. Some already contain direct links to the new unis. My apologies on a couple — there were no ‘tweets’ for/from a couple teams (as of midnight), so I had to take a larger photo and iso the team uni. Speaking of which, here’s a large-ish photo of the full unveil.

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Atlanta Hawks

 


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Boston Celtics

 


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Brooklyn Nets

 


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Charlotte Hornets

 


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Chicago Bulls

 


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Cleveland Cavaliers

 


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Dallas Mavericks

 


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Denver Nuggets

 


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Detroit Pistons

 


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Golden State Warriors

 


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Houston Rockets

 


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Indiana Pacers

 


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Los Angeles Clippers

 


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Los Angeles Lakers

 


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Memphis Grizzlies

 


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Miami Heat

 


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Milwaukee Bucks

 


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Minnesota Timberwolves


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New Orleans Pelicans


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New York Knicks

 


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Oklahoma City Thunder

 


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Orlando Magic


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Philadelphia 76ers

 


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Phoenix Suns

 


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Portland Trailblazers

 


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Sacramento Kings

 


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San Antonio Spurs

 


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Toronto Raptors

 


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Utah Jazz

 


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Washington Wizards

 


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So there you have it. These unis basically confirm every video game leak that came out earlier this week, so there are no surprises. I like a few of these, dislike a few, and some are just kinda meh. Let us know what YOU think down in the comments below!

In addition to the uniform news, the NBA/Nike also introduced “Smart Jerseys “to allow fans to connect to highlights, unlock exclusive offers.” Clearly that’s more merch-related, but it’s nevertheless worth a read.

More information on the jersey release can also be found here.

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What They’re Wearing Today…

The following is a list of some (though by no means all, obviously) uniforms, patches or helmets teams have announced for their games today.

 

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The Ticker
By Anthony Emerson

Baseball News: The Ontario U21 women’s baseball team for the Baseball Canada tournament is wearing a uniform inspired by the Tequila Sunrise ’Stros, the late-90s Blue Jays and the Orioles’ old alternate cap. It’s hard to tell, but the British flag on the torso of the jersey is actually part of the provincial flag of Ontario (from Timothy Chiu)….This is so cool; Cleveland pitchers made dolls of their teammates out of baseballs! (from Jannino)….The Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League unveiled their new white jerseys yesterday (from Matthew Algeo)….Riot Fest, a Chicago punk rock festival, is selling tee-shirts with a great tribute to the 1976-1990 White Sox logo (great spot by Steve Hartsock)….One of these Diamondbacks players is wearing the wrong pants (from Austin Wright). … Jose Alvarado had GOD BLESS on his cap last night (h/t Formerly Funhouse).

NFL/College Football News: At halftime during Thursday’s Bengals-Texans game, Cincy brought out Bengal legends to honor the team’s 50th anniversary. Each player was given a uniform with the number “50”. Most seemed to be this year’s Nike Vapor template, except for Chad Johnson’s jersey, which had flywire (from David Sperino)….The Saints will wear black jerseys and pants for Sunday’s game at the Superdome against the Pats (from Kenny Saidah)….ESPN used a circa 2001 photo of Tom Brady in an Adidas Pats uniform in a graphic for a video. To make things even more odd, every other player is shown in Nike (from Christopher Jowdy). … NIU launched their new white uniform Thursday evening (from Chris Feminis).

Hockey News: Here’s a good shot of the Blues’ new Adidas practice jerseys. Also note that the helmet numbers have changed from yellow to white (from Jeff Jones)….Speaking of the Blues, their mascot Louie was still wearing a Reebok jersey. Probably the same costume from last year. (from @Cards_Blues)….Ads on NBA uniforms got you down? Just think, you could be a fan of a German hockey team. That’s the new home jersey of Lausitzer Füchse‏ of the Deutsche Eishockeyliga 2 (from Ed Żelaski‏)….Mark Coale sends along this tweet from hockey writer James Mirtle: “So the Leafs have 73 players in camp. They also have 13 numbers retired. Only numbers not in use at camp: 3, 19, 60, 69, 81, 91, 92, 94-98”….Ever wonder what happened to the Buffaslug logos from the HSBC Center scoreboard? One of them ended up at a Buffalo sports bar (from Will Edge)….The Shreveport Mudbugs of the NAHL have yellow goalposts (from @Rovitz)….Al Hood sends along a tweet with more information on ‘Canes goalie Scott Darling’s mask.

NBA & College Hoops News: The Wizards had Bradley Beal tell Phil Chenier they were retiring his uni number, and caught it in a touching video (from William F. Yurasko)….Early copies of NBA 2K18 are still featuring Kyrie Irving in a Cavs uniform (a Cavs uniform he never wore, mind you). Though 2K Sports have released a cover with Irving in a Celtics uniform, all images on 2K’s social media feature Irving in a Cavs uniform, because the game went into physical production before the trade was finalized (from Colin McDonough)….Carmelo Anthony was spotted multiple times this summer working out in a hoodie, so now Knick fan Robert Gordon has modified a Melo jersey by adding a hood. SB Nation also published an interview with Gordon. (from Russ Flynn and Kris Gross). … Alabama hoops released their new white jerseys yesterday (from Doug Simpson). … Japan’s BLeague (basketball) has its own culture brand called Run the Floor (from Jeremy Brahm).

Soccer News: Real Madrid and Adidas will apparently sign a record-breaking sponsorship extension that will last until 2031. The deal will pay Real 150 million Euros a year, for a total of roughly 2 billion Euros (nearly 2.5 billion USD). While the average annual value is lower than Barcelona’s 155 million Euro-per-year deal with Nike, the length of this deal will make it the most expensive kit deal ever, surpassing Barça’s total earnings by 500 million Euros. Adidas has been Real’s kit provider since 1998….AS Monaco’s Champions League font is getting extremely negative reviews for its similarity to Comic Sans….The German national team’s contract with Adidas requires youth players to wear only Adidas boots….Argentine side Racing Club’s new kit honors the 50th anniversary of their 1967 Intercontinental Cup victory (from Ed Żelaski).

Grab Bag: If you’ve been watching ESPN on the teevee recently, you’ll know that they’ve been pushing their mobile app hard. This push has now moved to the microphone logos, which now show a facsimile of the app icon instead of the full ESPN logo. More info here (from Michael Kanady)….A good shot of the gorgeous kit the West Indies will wear for their forthcoming T20 matches (from Jim Vilk)….The city council of Belfast, Northern Ireland has come under criticism for spending £50,000 (nearly $68,000) of taxpayer money on a new logo that most Belfastians dislike. The new logo was approved unanimously by the council. The Belfast Telegraph’s graphic designer came up with these three logos “on his tea break”….A highway sign in Texas misspelled “Lawton” in a ridiculous/hilarious way (from Leslie Barr).

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Categories
NBA
Comments (32)

    With the Jets’ season basically pointless, I want to root for the Saints this year, but they’re not making it easy by insisting on wearing those awful black leotards.

    Yeah – saw that for their first game. I’m with you. Would not mind seeing Saints just wear their gold pants all the time.

    If they insist on wearing black pants, would be best just with white jersey. Different pants with some striping and contrasting socks that are not solid black.

    Are there any Saints fans out there that like the solid black pants and socks? Or would you just prefer that they wear the gold pants all the time?

    I know quite a few Saints fans. The ones that care that don’t like them are older and have some sense about them. If they would ditch the leotards, they would have a perfect uniform.

    I hate thise solid black pants as well, add a gold stripe or something. This has been a consistently bad look for years.

    I personally like the Knicks and Nuggets uniforms the best. The ad patches continue to mar everything they’re on, though at least some are done in team colors. The Nike logos everywhere look tacky, especially since they’re now on the socks and compression gear everyone seems incapable of playing without.

    Another interesting/disappointing bit of info is that the teams are all going to wear some hideous gfgs hoodie as their warmup top. Remember when every team had a unique design for their warmups? Those were the days.

    The Warriors have spent almost 50 years without really acknowledging that they’re Oakland’s team. I know the City jersey is a classic, but it’s always been a bit of a kick in the crotch when they’ve worn it without ever having anything for Oakland.

    I think this Warriors jersey will be very popular in the East Bay and I hope they keep wearing it when they move to San Francisco. Now, if only it didn’t have those stupid ads.

    In regards to the highway sign that spells Lawton wrong, I believe that sign incorrectly is listed as being in Texas. I-44 only runs about 20 miles in Texas. I think that sign is in Oklahoma at the I-44 and I-35 junction. So Oklahoma should get the shame.

    link. Though, in that Street View image from April 2017, Lawton was correct, but part of the A in Amarillo was missing.

    Incidentally, you can make out that the I-44 shield in the ticker pic has an Oklahoma state legend. As far as I know, Texas doesn’t use state legends on their Interstate markers.

    I spent a lot of time in Burkburnett and couldn’t really make sense of an exit that took you to both Lawton AND Amarillo. It has to be east. Good to know. Let’s hope it gets corrected.

    A shame, because that’s the best one!

    I’ve said it half in jest but now I’m saying it for realsies…the Timberwolves could be my new favorite team. Yeah, I’m fickle and taken in by appearances, at least in the sporting world. As long as they’re not a team full of floppers and ball punchers I think I’m on board.

    Is it just me, or can anyone else not unsee the “u” on the Sixers jersey? It’s a nice clean look with bold colors, but I cannot stop focusing on how the team name looks more like “Suxers” than “Sixers.”

    It’s the first thing I noticed, Jim. Otherwise it’d be a great jersey, but I can’t just unsee “Sùxers”.

    Honestly asking, I know this has to have been covered before but why is it that every college team can wear a different helmet each week but the NFL only allows one shell per season? Saying it’s for safety reasons doesn’t make sense to me. A new bumper or door on a car that’s been damaged would be structurally stronger than a fixed dent, right?

    Short answer: the NFL Players’ Union persuaded the league to grandfather out-of-production helmets that might be player favorites. They can’t be had in throwback colors. If a player switches models for a throwback game and ends up with a head injury, it leaves the League open for a huge lawsuit. Collegiate players have no such union, and can replace one color model with an identical helmet of different color.

    Some of those are really bad (Bucks), but I think the Pistons and Knicks are sharp. I even like the Grizzlies.

    The Nets abbreviation Bklyn is poor. Where is Booklyn? BRKLN doesn’t look as good, so how about going with Nets or New York? Also, another dark jeresy? Why not bring back the playoff reds? I blame Jayz.

    The Cavalier’s statement jersey is terrible. It checks off on all the worst trends in basketball uniform designs right now: BFBS, gradient pattern on the jersey, large logo on the front, and advertiser patch.

    I was unimpressed with the new Belfast civic logo. Until I saw the ones the newspaper derisively offered. They’re so bad, they made the complained-about real one look terrific.

    People generally hate new things, and they by and large believe that anything the government does that does not directly and personally benefit them individually should cost no money. Those two general rules make it a no-win proposition for any elected official to initiate design projects, so kudos to those who do.

    Personally, I’m partial to the second logo as it features one of the greatest footballers of all time, and Belfast native, George Best (Belfast even named their airport after him, not least because he’s a figure both Catholics and Protestants revere), but the other two were dreadful.

    I can see the official logo being much more versatile than the Telegraph’s offerings, too. Personally, I don’t think it’s a bad logo at all.

    Am I the only one who likes the T Wolves? Maybe all the BFBS attracts me to the complete opposite (and I always liked the Pistol Pete era Hawks jersey with the similar color combo). The Knicks are sharp and the Suxers, despite the script error, is better than most of them. Would have liked the Warriors if it was in another color.

    You’re not the only one. It’s so un-Nike…nice legible fonts, not minimalist…it may be the best thing they’ve ever made.

    I like the Grizzlies next, then probably the Hawks, Lakers, Blazers and Pelicans.

    I’m not crazy about the Suxers. And the Suns (cue up some Soundgarden, Mr. DJ), Clippers and Nuggets…no. Just no. White on bright yellow with no outline? Pffft.

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