New York Knicks Dump Throwback Uniforms Plus A Look Back at Other Scrapped Sets

The New York Knicks have had enough with their throwback uniforms this season.

According to an article in the New York Daily News, the Knicks have decided to leave this season’s “Classic Edition” set in the past, removing it entirely from the remainder of their 2021-22 uniform schedule.

The Knicks had been scheduled to wear their throwbacks 21 times this season; they made it through nine before the uniform was scrubbed, replaced with their usual home white “Association Edition” set for the remaining dozen. The Daily News notes the club went 5-4 wearing the uniforms but had lost three of their last four in them.

New York had been wearing the 1946 throwback uniforms this season to celebrate the club’s 75th anniversary season. The NBA only permits teams to wear a “Classic Edition” uniform during what they consider to be a milestone anniversary season, meaning it could be another five seasons or so before the Knicks have the option to wear another throwback design.

As for why the Knicks dropped the set?

A source said James Dolan was down on the uniforms, which last appeared at MSG on Dec. 12 in a loss to the Bucks, although it’s unknown why they were pulled from the league’s master schedule. A spokesperson for the MSG Company declined to answer questions about Dolan’s involvement or his potential reasoning, offering only a statement: “The team changes jerseys all the time.”
New York Daily News, 1/6/2022

“The team changes jerseys all the time” is just the perfect smug PR guy response. Yeah, we know they change jerseys all the time, but this is different, and you know it’s different. Sigh.

KNICKS NOT THE FIRST TO SCRAP A SET MID-SEASON

The Knicks would hardly be the first to drop a uniform mid-season; they’re not even the first Knicks team to do so; the 2013-14 club stopped wearing their all-orange alternate uniform after starting the season 0-6 while wearing them.

The Philadelphia Phillies twice turfed a uniform because of perceived rotten luck.

In 1994, an 0-4 start led to Phillies players refusing to wear their spiffy new blue alternate cap. The front office reached a compromise with the players in which they would wear them only on Saturday afternoon home games the rest of the year. In the end, the team went 1-6 while wearing the blue cap, and it did not make a return in 1995.

Their infamous head-to-toe burgundy “Saturday Night Specials” were killed off after a single game on May 19, 1979, after the team blew a four-run lead and lost while wearing them. Hilariously, the Phillies decided to give them another shot on their 40th anniversary, wearing them for their July 27, 2019 game against the Atlanta Braves. The curse looked real as the Phillies were down 14-1 by the fifth inning, ending up losing by a score of 15-7.

Sticking with baseball, the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays did away with their well-known white-panelled home ballcaps, worn since their inaugural 1977 season, following a brief losing streak mid-season. The Jays replaced them with their all-blue road caps and wore them at home the rest of the way, including the game in which they won their second-straight World Series later that October.

The 2017 Jays also had their troubles with a supposed “cursed” uniform as they planned to honour Canada’s 150th birthday by wearing red jerseys and caps for every Sunday home game throughout the season.

Things took a horrible turn in July.

After starting 2017, a tolerable 2-2 in the reds, the Jays began July with a 7-1 loss to the Red Sox on Canada Day. That was followed one day later by a 15-1 drubbing and then an “alright; this is starting to get a little silly” 19-1 loss to the Houston Astros one week later. The Blue Jays had been outscored 41-3 wearing their reds throughout those three games in eight days.

LINK: 2017 Blue Jays red uniforms game-by-game

The Blue Jays would wear the reds just one last time after that retched stretch, choosing July’s final Sunday home game. It was quickly a case of “welp, here we go again” as their opponents, the Los Angeles Angels, went up 7-1 by the third inning, taking a 10-4 lead into the ninth. The Jays then went on an incredible rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring seven runs to win it 11-10. So, that’s one way to say goodbye to a “cursed” set.

Have any other examples of unlucky uniforms? Share them in the comments!