The adjacent shamrock features “RED” inside of it, and the league’s largest size tag location storytelling incorporates a tribute to every retired player number in franchise history and all 17 championship years. Styled in a clean and classic green and white look, the Boston Celtics’ City uniform features such details as the subtle light grey cloud graphic rising through the side panel of the shorts, a nod to coach Red Auerbach’s celebratory victory cigar smoke. A plaid inset along the side of the jersey and shorts harkens back to the patterned suits worn by championship coach Jack Ramsay. Though the Trail Blazers last won a championship in 1977, their “Rip City” moniker from announcer Bill Schonely reads across the front of their newest jersey, with a base look and drop shadow lettering inspired by their early 1990s team that made back-to-back NBA Finals. “You can put stories on a uniform, and the uniform can become a bridge to that next generation.” “It’s about inviting the next generation to join,” said Jesse Alvarez, product director of global sports apparel-men’s basketball at Nike. While the season-long approach of the City looks, by definition, highlights the past, the idea also looks to fuel a future fan base with an understanding of the league’s heritage. In total, 123 different uniforms will be worn this season by the 30 teams. This year, only the three original franchises in the Celtics, Knicks and Warriors will also don a fifth jersey, their Classic edition. Since the starting point with Nike in 2017, each team has received four annual jerseys in its rotation – a white “Association” look, the “Icon” uniform in its key color, a “Statement” jersey with a bolder approach, and its City Edition telling a local or franchise-specific storyline.

Miami Heat retire ‘Vice’ uniforms after years of dominating sales.Behind the Atlanta Hawks’ tribute to MLK through their new uniforms.Trae Young and the Hawks: ‘A whole new era of basketball swagger in Atlanta’.The Utah Jazz and the Phoenix Suns will repeat their beloved City Edition looks that celebrated the red rocks and national parks of Utah and the desert landscape of the Valley of the Sun.Īll year long, the league is making each team’s game-by-game uniform selections available to view ahead of time on its revamped Locker Vision website.Ī twist on the added golden anniversary logo found on the 50 th season’s jerseys, this year’s diamond anniversary is highlighted by a fractal and iridescent diamond-textured league logo on all jerseys, shorts and team accessories, with “75” replacing the standard NBA lettering next to the Jerry West silhouette. “There’s a tapestry of the NBA’s history, all in one place,” said Arena.Īll but two teams will be breaking out the new editions in late December and the start of 2022. The Utah Jazz's 75th anniversary City Edition jersey.įrom the decadeslong chapters of original franchises such as the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors to the blend of contrasting hues and eras worn by teams such as the Detroit Pistons to the celebration of championship seasons for the Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers, each team’s execution merges a batch of discovery elements and nuances. This time around, according to Arena, Nike came back to the league with a simple insight and starting point: “Remember the mixtape you would make? Let’s just do that – take all of these different eras and put them together.” The gold-outlined NBA logo affixed on jerseys and shorts for all of the then-29 teams became the memorable detail incorporated for the golden anniversary. Occurring before the dawn of the throwback jersey era at the turn of the century, the celebration was short-lived, with the past looks worn on just a few occasions. “We went to Nike in August of 2019,” said Christopher Arena, the NBA Head of On-Court Brand Partnerships, “and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got the 75 th anniversary season, how are we going to celebrate it?’ ”įor the 1996-97 regular season, the league’s 50 th anniversary year and last major milestone season to receive this much planning, a select group of original franchises wore Hardwood Classics uniforms that honored a storied chapter in each team’s history. As the NBA celebrates its 75 th anniversary season, teams across the league will be debuting new uniforms beginning on Christmas Day that will look to blend design details and elements of their franchise histories into one unified look and new expression.Īfter Nike’s eight-year, $1 billion partnership with the NBA began in 2017, the design and marketing teams based in Beaverton, Oregon, and Secaucus, New Jersey, looked ahead to the 2021-22 season as a landmark year for the association.

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