2015 NBA All Star Uniforms Inspired By NYC Basketball Culture

With the 2015 NBA All Star game’s events being held in New York City (with various events at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the actual game being held at Madison Square Garden), you had to figure that the NBA was going to try to make a splash uniform-wise for the crown jewel of the league’s schedule in the Big Apple. Now that the 2015 All-Star Game uniforms have been unveiled, it’s clear that they’ve not only made a splash; They did a cannonball into the pool with this design.

In a joint press release, the NBA and adidas stated that the uniform design was “inspired by classic sports uniforms and barnstorming basketball teams from the early 20th century.”

Also from the press release:

The jerseys feature a side panel of five stars, each representing New York City’s five boroughs with a unique pattern:
o   Queens: a pattern inspired by the stainless steel orbit rings of the borough’s iconic Unisphere that was built for the 1964 World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows – Corona Park
o   Staten Island: a wave pattern to signify its surrounding waters
o   Manhattan: a taxi-cab checkered pattern represents the pace and energy of the world’s most cosmopolitan city
o   The Bronx: a vinyl record pattern to pay homage to the birthplace of hip-hop and the rich musical legacy of New York City
o   Brooklyn: a brick pattern inspired by the iconic brownstone houses and buildings that make up the neighborhoods of the city’s most populous borough

Meanwhile, the back of the jerseys will go one step further than the Christmas Day uniforms that were recently unveiled. Instead of just stopping with the player’s first name on the back of the jersey, the player’s full name will be on the back of the jersey now: First name above the numbers, last name below. Amazingly, this is the first time that this has been done on an NBA All-Star uniform. I figured this would’ve happened during the funky days of the ’70s or the delightfully tacky days of the ’90s, but it took until 2015 for it to actually happen.

To top off the entire look, we get to see the latest take on the big trend for All-Star warmup jackets, which is adding badges for the players’ individual and team achievements on the jacket. Those will be returning with a New York accent for the 2015 game.

All in all, the uniforms definitely look plain and simple at first glance, but it definitely pays to pay attention to the details here. And keeping those details in mind, this is definitely one of the most unique NBA All-Star uniforms to come down the pike in a long time. Even with the extremely simple uniform look, it still manages to stay modern and stylish at the same time. Definitely one of adidas’ better efforts with the NBA (not just because it’s sans sleeves, mind you).