Idaho Stampede will wear special jerseys for Black History Night

The Utah Jazz’s D-League affiliate has come up with a unique way to pay tribute to prominent African-American figures of both the past and present for their upcoming Black History Night on February 20th. The Idaho Stampede will do so by wearing the faces of Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass, Maya Angelou, and current United States President Barack Obama (among others) on the sides of their uniforms.

Here’s further explanation from the Stampede’s news release on the promotion.

Idaho will wear jerseys featuring images of influential African Americans created by artist-engineer Patrick Hunter. In addition to the jerseys, a quote from each of the figures will be featured on the players’ shooting shirts.
Including [Earl] Lloyd [the first African-American to play in an NBA basketball game], other influential figures on the Stampede’s jersey will be Maya Angelou, George Washington Carver, Ray Charles, Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, President Barack Obama, Jackie Robinson and Harriet Tubman. All of Hunter’s original artwork featured on the jerseys will be on display at the game.

They’ll also be wearing the faces on the side of the shorts as well, which you can see below.

The uniforms will be auctioned off after the game, with all proceeds going to the Idaho Black History Museum. Overall, I’m a fan of this idea, though admittedly it’s definitely going to be a bit weird seeing faces on the sides of jerseys once the finished product is released. However, the design is being done for a very positive purpose, so that’s always nice to see.

Would you put your money towards potentially getting one of these jerseys in an auction?