Nike and the NBA introduced on Tuesday the new game uniforms that teams will wear next season. Nike takes over for Adidas, which had been league’s official apparel outfitter since the 2006 season. Nike and the NBA signed an eight-year deal that could be worth $1 billion. The new jerseys have significant changes over the Adidas ones: The armhole, neck and side seams were moved to eliminate distractions and the back shoulder of the uniform was also changed. The hemlines on the bottom of both the jersey and shorts were changed allowing full range of motion. Nike will also unveil a new on-court collection to include tights and socks.
“The mental advantage of a quality uniform is priceless,” Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving said. “The fact that Nike listened to all of our feedback while developing the new NBA uniforms speaks volumes, I’m excited for the new fit and feel.” Starting this season, the league is eliminating its “Home” and “Road” uniform designations. The home teams will now pick which uniforms will be worn at their home games and visiting teams will choose a contrasting uniform. Each team will have four primary uniforms, with the home jersey being renamed the Association Edition and the road jersey being designated the Icon Edition. Nike’s iconic Swoosh logo will also appear on the uniforms.
Eight NBA teams will have a Classic Edition uniform that will be available in the fall. The Charlotte Hornets will be the only NBA team wearing uniforms from the Jordan Brand, a subsidiary of Nike. H/T – Sports Illustrated
As if Nike didn’t already dominate the world enough these days. They now own the exclusive apparel contracts of the two most popular and prolific professional sports leagues in the country. Nike being Nike though, you gotta be excited for what they potentially have in store. When they won the NFL contract a few years back I was pretty excited to see what they could do. I think they did a solid job of changing up the template and simultaneously giving teams the options to redesign or hang onto their current uniforms fairly easily, whichever route they decided to go.
Nike was able to do that and even take it a step further with the NBA. In ways, the NBA jersey is less customizable in terms of pieces. Nike decided to revamp the whole NBA jersey system instead, which honestly I’m real down for. The NBA needed a shakeup. It’s usually at the forefront of change and league modernization. The home team now being able to choose the jersey they want is a cool wrinkle. Another form of “homecourt advantage.” I know we’ve only seen the one jersey, but it gives us at least a look at what the template will be. Interested to see what each of the teams will come up with. I’m assuming there will be some free reign on the remaining two jerseys.
P.S. Of course Michael Jordan snags the exclusivity on the Hornets wearing Jordan. You never know what type of little extra recruiting boost that could give them. God knows they need it given Jordan’s drafting record.
