Washington Wizards Throw it Back to 1997 with New “Classic Edition” Uniform

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of their change from the Bullets, the Washington Wizards will be sporting a throwback “Classic Edition” uniform for a handful of dates in 2022-23.

The design takes us back to the first look the Wizards used following the name change in 1997-98, a blue, bronze, and black jersey with the club name waving across the front, a crescent-moon-like basketball dotting the “I,” and a blue stripe down the left side of the uniform only.

Down the side of the shorts is the Wizards’ old secondary logo, a stylized “dc” (for District of Columbia) in bronze and black. While the Wizards stopped using this logo in 2011, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics continue to use this logo here in 2022.

The Wizards adopted the then-new colour scheme following decades of red, white, and blue to match their roommates over the NHL, the Washington Capitals, who had also switched from the same colour scheme a couple of years earlier.

***Michael Jordan wore this uniform during his final two seasons from 2001 to 2003***.

The Wizards announced their new name on February 22, 1996, more than a year-and-a-half before they’d play their first game with it in the fall of 1997. The change from Washington Bullets came following an anti-violence campaign.

“I realized some time ago we should consider changing our name,” team owner Abe Pollin said. “I picked up a newspaper and saw the word ‘bullets’ in the headline and thought the article was about my team.” Later saying, “The priority for us was to make a statement about anti-violence, to make a statement that bullets kill people. Therefore we felt the name Bullet was no longer appropriate.”

LINK: Washington Wizards logo and uniform history

Four Basketball Hall of Famers suited up in the blue and bronze of the Wizards during their playing careers: Mitch Richmond, Michael Jordan, Ben Wallace, and Chris Webber. The Wizards wore this uniform from 1997 through the end of the 2010-11 season before switching back to the safety of red, white, and blue.

As this is a “Classic Edition” uniform, its return will be limited to a single season.