As NBA fans assessed the first half of the season during the All-Star break, one thought inevitably entered each and every one of their minds.
“You know what this league needs? More jerseys.”
Your silent pleas have been heard — well at least for some of you. The NBA and Nike introduced their “Earned Edition” uniforms Wednesday, but only for the teams that made the playoffs last season. To the fans of the other 14 teams, better luck next year.
Here’s how the NBA describes the concept:
Here’s a ranking of the newly revealed NBA City Edition uniforms. Where do the Lakers and Clippers fit in?
“The Earned Edition uniforms celebrate the 16 franchises, with team names or logos prominently emblazoned on the front of the uniforms and featuring current team design elements, brought to life through enhanced franchise colors. The designs across each uniform amplify the iconic elements that are ingrained in the fabric of each organization.”
As an extra bonus for 15 of the playoff teams, there’s a bunch of silver elements added to the jerseys. And as an extra, extra bonus for the 2020 champion Lakers, those elements are added in gold.
But however fancy these jerseys may be, they aren’t going to rank themselves. So here we go (as always nothing personal to those who worked hard on these — just having some fun).
16. The bizarrely colorless Portland Trail Blazers
15. Good thing the Dallas Mavericks and ...
... 14. Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t wearing their “Earned Edition” jerseys when they play each other on March 19. Things could have gotten confusing.
13. The Miami Heat lead off a group of good-looking but not particularly exciting jerseys.
12. As you will soon learn, jerseys with large graphics and no words are often rewarded on these rankings. But these Denver Nuggets jerseys are a bit on the sleepy side.
11. The Toronto Raptors jersey may look better on court.
10. The subtle red and blue stripes save this otherwise colorless Clippers jersey from the fate of the Blazers’ uniform.
9. Indiana Pacers. Why not?
8. The green-on-green Boston Celtics. Again, why not?
7. Houston Rockets. Just a nice, bold look.
6. The Lakers. Ditto.
5. As promised, here’s some wacky, wordless jerseys that work, starting with the Philadelphia 76ers ...
4. continuing with the Utah Jazz ...
3. and wrapping up with the Orlando Magic (love the stars going down the side, too).
2. It’s always fun when the Brooklyn Nets go with the subway sign motif.
1. Milwaukee Bucks
These jerseys look amazing on their own but can only be fully appreciated when viewed with the shorts, which allow the antler stripes on the sides to run from kneecap to armpit.
Now that’s style.
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