Nike took the responsibility of uniform design from Adidas beginning in the 2017–18 season. Since then, the uniforms have become as creative as we’ve seen since some of the designs in the mid-to-late 90s.
Nike did away with the classic “Home”, “Away” and “Alternate” format that we have been accustomed to. The new format includes the “Association”, “Icon”, “Statement”, “City” and “Earned” editions of jerseys which allow Nike and NBA teams to tell a story and use cross cultural references.
Although Nike has failed at incorporating exciting Christmas and All Star edition jerseys, I believe they’ve done a good job overall.
Let’s take a look at what I believe were the Top 15 jerseys from the 2018–19 NBA season.
15. Philadelphia 76ers | Statement
14. Cleveland Cavaliers | Earned
13. Boston Celtics | City
12. Utah Jazz | City
11. Atlanta Hawks | Classic
10. Minnesota Timberwolves | City “Purple Rain”
9. Los Angeles Lakers | Association “Sunday Whites”
Classic. The cleanest jersey out of the new Lakers branding.
8. Toronto Raptors | City “OVO”
Let’s think about this. An NBA team has uniforms that are inspired by a local rapper. I feel like that’s more significant than we talk about because Drake is so popular. The OVO color scheme is excellent and so are these uniforms.
7. New Orleans Pelicans | City “Mardi Gras”
These represent the perfect execution of representing the culture of a team’s city while being creative but simple. These aren’t talked about much because the Pelicans aren’t the most popular team to say the least but Lonzo — Zion — Jaxson Hayes fast breaks could change that.
6. Charlotte Hornets | Classic
5. Golden State Warriors| Classic/We Believe 2019
These were especially special because they were worn in the last regular season home game in Oracle Arena, in an ode to one of Oracle’s greatest teams. The orange, yellow and navy blue is a unique colorway that gave a legendary roster a fresh look.
4. Orlando Magic | Classic
Nostalgia alert. Remaking things that used to be popular or stylish can go poorly, quickly. That clearly didn’t happen here. These just look so good. They need to make these their primary uniforms and do away with the strange attempt to modernize the Magic that they’ve used since early in Dwight Howard’s career.
3. Brooklyn Nets | City “Biggie”
Brooklyn has easily one of the most cookie-cutter uniform designs in all of sports. Black, white, boring font letters. But, incorporating the Coogie sweater pattern into the jersey as an ode to one of Brooklyn’s finest, Christopher Wallace aka Biggie is an execution of a tremendous marketing idea. They look great and have character. What more can you ask?
2. Minnesota Timberwolves | Classic
Nostalgia is heavily present with these. Nike perfectly remixed a classic jersey that immediately evokes the memories of Kevin Garnett in his prime. (Though they didn’t win much, they looked great doing it.) With one of the most recognizable fonts in all of fonts and a solid color combo, Minnesota’s Classic Edition grabs the number 2 spot.
1. Miami Heat | City “Miami Nights”
You cannot go wrong with the Miami Vice colorway. Any iteration of this Miami color scheme could make a garbage truck’s worth go up 1000%. Memories of Dwyane Wade’s final season will forever be associated with this jersey, even if they won a championship in them, in the future.
