Our long, continental nightmare is finally coming to a close as the 2015-16 NBA season is going to tip off in the immediate future! With that being said, the league did its best to keep us uniform nerds occupied by giving us an absolute slew of logo and uniform changes, both big and small. There’s a very good chance that your favorite NBA team made some sort of change during the offseason, and if you happened to miss it, then we are more than happy to make sure that you’re caught up on it.
Now, we’ll be covering stuff that has been officially unveiled. If you want to spoil yourself with the catalog leak that came through this past summer, then you can go ahead and click here. If not, then go ahead and scroll down as we take a look at the many changes that have gone down in the world of NBA logos and uniforms (links to stories are within bolded team names):
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The Hawks were one of a handful of teams who made wholesale changes to their identity, as they now have a new set of colors, logos, and uniforms. They’ve replaced their old red-white-and-blue scheme (which, let’s be honest, was getting to be way too common in the NBA) with a red-gray-and-volt scheme. It’s definitely unique to say the least. The team also made the Pac-Man logo their official primary mark as well, putting it inside of a roundel logo. I forget who originally said this, but it still rings true: There’s a very good chance that if you’re over the age of 35, you hate the new Hawks look. However, if you’re any younger than that, then you’re probably a fan of it.
They didn’t make any logo or uniform changes, but they did make a slight alteration to their court. It’s pretty cool, in my opinion.
The Hornets from Buzz City literally put “Buzz City” on their new black, sleeved alternates.
The Bulls will be playing on a new court this season, as they’ve given their court a much-needed facelift and upgrade. No more randomly-placed basketball below the Bulls’ head!
Additionally, the Bulls will be wearing their road uniforms from 1973-1985 as throwbacks this season. Personally, I think that this should be their current road uniform, but that’s neither here or there.
The LeBron James jersey mill just keeps on a-churnin’. The Cavaliers added three new alternate jerseys to their rotation, which gives them seven different uniforms to wear this season.
The fan-designed jersey that the Mavericks unveiled all the way back in September of 2014 will finally be worn on the court this season.
Also, the Mavericks will be bringing back their old road unis from the ’80s and the early ’90s as throwbacks this season. They barely did any winning in those uniforms, but they’re pretty solid.
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets made slight changes to their home, road, and alt uniforms. Additionally, they also updated their court. It’s a very small update, but it’ll still be noticeable. It’s definitely interesting that they brought back the retro font for their alternate uniform.
They’ve unveiled a “Chrome” alternate jersey that’ll be worn for select games this season. It’s basically their road jersey, except replace the red-white-and-blue scheme with gray-white-and-navy.
Golden State Warriors
The defending NBA Champions will kick off their 2015-16 campaign by wearing gold-tinged uniforms as they’re awarded their rings. Additionally, they’re also bringing back the throwbacks that inspired their current set of uniforms. You guys know exactly what I’m talking about, here.
Houston made minor changes to their home and road uniforms, and also unveiled a slew of alternates. They’ll be wearing two of those alternates this season, and one alternate — the best looking one of the bunch, mind you — will be worn next season.
The Indiana Pacers have gone down an extremely unique path when it comes to throwbacks. They’ll be commemorating the 30th anniversary of release of the classic sports movie “Hoosiers” by wearing uniforms inspired by the movie.
I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. The less said here, the better.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies will once again pay homage to the non-NBA history of basketball in its city. This time, they’ll be wearing Memphis Sounds throwbacks for a few games this season.
Miami’s going down the throwback path once again. This time, they’ll be wearing throwbacks from their inaugural season.
UPDATE — In addition to wearing throwbacks this season, the Heat unveiled two extra alternate uniforms: A Legacy uniform that’s meant to combine all of the different eras of Miami Heat basketball into one uniform, and a Home Strong uniform that’s meant to honor the troops. None of these look particularly good, in my opinion.
The Bucks were another team that made wholesale changes, and for the most part, it’s a huge upgrade. From the uniforms to the court, everything’s pretty pleasing to the eye.
Milwaukee also broke a bit of uniform/court synergy ground as well. Not only did they unveil an alternate uniform, they also unveiled an alternate court to go with it.
The Pelicans joined the sleeved-jersey brigade with Mardi Gras-themed uniforms. Also, in particularly unusual news, the team announced that they’ll only be wearing their red alternates for single-game road trips.
The Knicks will be throwing it back to the 1950s with their throwbacks this season.
Also, they changed the paint in the key from orange to blue. If you’re a fan of those old rough-n-tumble Knicks teams from the ’90s, then this should be a welcome change for your eyes.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder have always been known for their, um, eclectic uniforms and logos, and their newest alternate uniform fits the bill. That is one bright shade of orange, folks. This will be their fifth uniform in their set, in addition to their regular home-and-road set, their navy alternate, and their white sleeved alternate.
The Sixers have new uniforms and have updated their logo set as well. All in all, it’s an upgrade over what was a pretty bland set before the update.
Also, this includes a new court. Good luck finding the name of the arena on that court, though!
The Suns made a few changes. The biggest change is a new black alternate, which they’ll be wearing for Opening Night. They also cut the sleeves off of their orange alternate. I’d say that some other teams should take the Suns’ advice and do what they did to their orange alt. Additionally, they’ll be playing on a new court this season.
Sacramento Kings
The old baby-blue alternates from the 1980s and early ’90s will be returning to Sacremento, as the Kings have announced that they’ll be bringing those back as throwback uniforms for this season.
The Spurs have unveiled a black version of their silver alternate uniforms, which they’ll be adding to their current uniform set.
The Raptors overhauled their identity over the offseason, and they’ve now got new uniforms, logos and a new court to boot. In addition to traditional home, road, and alt uniforms, the team also unveiled a black-and-gold “Drake” alternate. Toronto’s favorite rapper can’t stop winning, can he?
The Wizards unveiled quite possibly the strangest-looking uniforms this season: Unis that invoke the days of the Baltimore Bullets and are also sleeved. It’s unique, and also weird as all get-out.
All of the league will have a different look for their socks, as Stance has given each squad team-colored socks to wear. This is an extremely welcome change, and most teams are taking advantage of this by jazzing up their sock game.
Also, the refs will have new uniforms for the upcoming season. In addition, they’ll also have white uniforms to wear if a team happens to be wearing gray uniforms.
Here’s a look at some of the Christmas Day uniforms that we’ll be seeing this season. I guess the positive here is that they’re nowhere near as garish as they’ve been over the past couple of seasons.
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That should just about cover all of the major changes that have occurred in the world of NBA logos and uniforms this season. If your favorite team wasn’t mentioned above, then that means that they’ve stood pat for this season as far as that is concerned. Depending on your viewpoint, that may be a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, most of the league has plenty to talk about when it comes to changes. What do you guys think, though? Which change is your favorite? Which team should have done something else? The answer to that question has to be the Clippers, right? It definitely has to be the Clippers. Anyways, let us know what you think, and also let us know if we missed anything!