Earlier this year, we got word that adidas decided that they weren’t going to extend their contract with the NBA as the official uniform supplier of the league. Naturally, Nike’s name was at the top of the leaderboard when it came to speculation as to who would be the replacement. Well, that was justified because ESPN’s Darren Rovell is reporting that Nike will indeed become the NBA’s uniform supplier starting in 2017-18
Now, unless the whole sleeved-jersey initiative was something that the NBA pushed on adidas (which I doubt is the case considering that adidas has outfitted many of their college basketball teams in sleeved jerseys), I think it might be safe to say that this means the end of sleeved jerseys in the NBA. Nike has yet to outfit a college basketball team in sleeved jerseys, so I doubt that we’ll see Nike make any new ones once they get in charge.
On the flip side, Nike is still Nike. While most of their uniform designs can lean modern and still be tasteful, Nike’s been known to go crazy when given license to do so, so if there are any teams who are looking to make a splash after 2017-18, then they’ll have ample opportunity to do so with Nike in charge.
Also, there’s this other note from Darren Rovell:
This will end the NBA’s long run of going without sponsor logos on their uniforms, although that was bound to happen back when the deal with Stance socks was announced.
So, what do you guys think? Glad that Nike’s decided to take on the NBA? LEt us know what you think!