I tend to feel when a new design, or jersey is unveiled that the team genuinely wanted to do something to make the fans happy or try to turn their club in a new direction rather than say just try to cash in on a quick buck through new merchandise sales. I’m not oblivious, I know that it’s a factor, I just like knowing it’s not the number one reason.
But this new line of jerseys the NBA unveiled earlier today baffles me… I just can’t see a point to it.
The idea is that the National Basketball Association, proud of their 65-year history of playing games on Christmas Day, wanted to have teams wear special uniforms for this one day of the season. So, what did they come up with? Let’s make the letters and numbers the same colour as the base… BAM! Christmas.
What in the heck is the point of that?
Ah yes… We know what it is, it was made quite clear taking up a good quarter of the press release:
“BIG Color jerseys are part of the adidas Winter Court Collection, which also includes new warm-up jackets and shooting shirts” … “Fans can purchase the Winter Court Collection for all NBA teams at NBAStore.com, the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, Champs Sports, and team retailers on Nov. 15.”
Yes, it’s obvious the league wanted to make some extra cash this holiday season, and with the NBA approving the placement of sponsor patches on jerseys next year it seems quite clear that the association has placed “extra revenue streams” ahead of “good-looking uniforms” on its priority list. Who knows where such a mindset could lead us one day.
But whatever, enough with my ranting, time to cover the new uniforms with neutrality like a big boy.
Ten teams – Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, LA Clippers, LA Lakers, Miami, New York, and Oklahoma City – will be participating in the ridiculous event over five games. These impossible-to-read uniforms will be worn in each and every game for the 25th of December and then (hopefully, but we doubt it) never again… Dang, I couldn’t even make it through one paragraph
“We worked with adidas to amplify our long-standing tradition of playing on Christmas Day,” said NBA Executive Vice President Global Merchandising Sal LaRocca. “BIG Color gives our players an enhanced look on the court and highlights one of the most visible dates during our season with a new and exciting range of products.”
See what happens when you let Jay-Z get involved in designing your league? Monochrome becomes “exciting”.
Here’s the thing, I’m obviously all for wearing special themed jerseys, but not like this. This is a very lazy and templatey approach (nuts to you Google Chrome, I say ‘templatey’ is a word!) a half-assed way of doing something that should have been a lot more fun in an attempt to do nothing except make as much money as possible. Look! Malibu Stacy has a new hat!
What would I have preferred you ask? How about Hardwood Classic jerseys… that would’ve been a little fun. How about custom Christmas or winter themed jerseys for each of the teams playing? Yeah, it’s kinda cheesy and minor league but it’s better than this!
Pics of the other eight jerseys we did not already showcase above, click any of them for a larger version:
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If you dig it, I’d love to hear why – please share your thoughts in the comments. As always, those who agree with me are also welcome to share their thoughts 🙂
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