An Exhaustive Ranking of the New Nike “City Edition” Jerseys

Comprehensive comparisons of the NBA’s 4th team uniform.

The swoosh gods at Nike released the last components of the new NBA kits on Wednesday. Nicknamed the “City Edition”, these uniforms are supposed to symbolically represent their franchise’s city with a unique design. So without further ado, let’s do what all good fans love to do and rank them (and explain). Which ones are trash and which ones are cash? We start with the trash:

30th: Dallas Mavericks

As Charles Barkley would say, “TURRIBLE, JUST TURRIBLE”. The assignment was for teams to create a uniform that represented their city, but their is nothing here that remotely screams “Dallas!”. The inspiration behind the uniform was, according to the team, to reflect the skyline, the neon glow, and the “vibrancy of Dallas nights”. I don’t buy it. They chose to stick with a color scheme similar to their 1990’s uniforms which was an awkward choice then and now (especially paired with the black base). The uniforms aren’t offensive and will look fine on court but they are just boring. Mavs owner billionaire Mark Cuban should have devoted more funds to this instead of letting his kids use Microsoft Word to do it. Sorry Dallas, you rank last.

29th: San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio chose a black and white camouflage pattern, similar to one of their alternate jerseys from the past few years, for their City Edition kit. While I applaud the Spurs for paying respect to the many veterans who live in San Antonio, this is an aesthetic nightmare. Except for when Kanye West rocks it, camouflage has never been a particularly cool pattern, though the black and white does fit the Spurs’ colors. However it is the black and white color choice that is the biggest issue with this uniform as the logo and number nearly vanish and blend in (as Camo tends to do) with the background.

28th: Oklahoma City Thunder

Weird. Very weird. I honestly want to know the name of the person who gave the OK to the shrinking “OKC” and the weird slanting stripes. For some reason that text and the number are outlined in this random gold color which has never appeared before in any of the Thunder’s apparel or logos. Then they choose to pair it with a fading gray which once again is not part of their color scheme. I’m lost on this one, maybe Russ Westbrook is so fast I just won’t notice how horrendous this uniform is. The only saving grace is the fade of the gray which I actually like and assume will invert itself on the shorts.

27th: Brooklyn Nets

Who knew that a team that was named after a group of cotton strings would ever have trouble finding inspiration? The Nets turn to the Brooklyn Bridge for inspiration for this uniform, which I actually don’t hate. What I do hate is how they chose to incorporate it. The light gray lines on the jersey, signifying the wires of the bridge, are pretty neat and the arched white on the side accurately represents the bridge. But it falls apart when you get to the main part of the jersey: the team name. The arching of it makes it difficult to read and it reminds me of when a player’s last name is so long they have to arch it in order for it to fit on the jersey.

26th: Orlando Magic

I’m pretty conflicted on this jersey. On one hand, I kind of like the space theme (maybe I’m still amped after the new Star Wars movie) and the color of it will look good on court, but inspiration for the galactic appearance makes no sense to me. It symbolizes reaching beyond your limits and the desire to achieve more, according to the team. This seems like they’re reflecting the message of their patch sponsor (not shown here) Disney and maybe there is not a whole lot of other inspiration in Orlando. If the off-brand space theme poked holes in the design, the logo placement sinks it. It looks like a NBA 2K-created jersey and is not symmetrical in the slightest. If they had used their old, Shaq and Penny, era “Orlando” copy with a star instead of an “A”, I could’ve gotten behind this jersey.

25th: Charlotte Hornets

The only thing I love about this uniform is consistent with all of Charlotte’s uniforms this season: the Jordan jumpman logo. Generally, black uniforms look pretty great, but this one doesn’t feel right even though the side color fade complements the black pretty nicely. I worry about being able to read “Buzz City” (a good nickname) and the uniform number seeing as they’re only out lined in a thin white line. Their slogan in the bottom corner of the jersey, “Enter The Swarm”, feels a little childish but I guess that’s what you get when you choose purple and teal as you primary team colors.

24th: Minnesota Timberwolves

For a team that chose a bright neon for one of their jerseys, this choice is unexpected. The T-Wolves go for a subtle approach with this one and it’s not bad, but it is too plain. The spikes on the side are representative of the Wolf and the cold Minneapolis climate. Gray is a bad choice for NBA outfits, forcing teams to wear a colored jersey against you as to be distinguishable, and white on gray is sort of underwhelming.

23rd: Phoenix Suns

Way too much purple. Even Prince, lover of the violet color, would agree with me on this one if he was still alive. I admire that they are embracing the Hispanic culture of Phoenix with their main jersey text and their slogan in the bottom right, but even this can’t save the jersey from all that purple. The Suns have really been impatiently changing their logo and color schemes in recent years, switching from purple & orange to orange & black and now are back with a purple-heavy design. When you’re one of the league’s perpetually lottery-bound teams you have to do something to keep your fans interested.

22nd: Detroit Pistons

I didn’t expect much from the Pistons. They’ve stuck with essentially the same typeface since the days of Ben Wallace and have reverted back to their 1980’s logo this year. This design does not stray far from the brand as they go with a dark navy uniform with their long-time nickname “Motor City” etched above. It’s plain, though not exactly sleek so it sits this far back in the rankings due to lack of creativity. My best simple improvement would be to make the edges of the uniform that off-white color of the text instead of the dark black, which has never looked good next to navy.

21st: New Orleans Pelicans

New Orleans embraces the Mardi Gras theme with this new combo. They rocked an outfit similar last year to this, but with sleeves attached. This one is tricky because I actually love the color combinations on this uniform because they are embracing what the “City Edition” is supposed to be about. But it ranks 20th for a reason. There must be some reason for the numbers to be staggered (perhaps a Mardi Gras detail), but I can’t figure it out. I’ve never seen anything like it on a uniform and I hope I don’t again. Additionally, the Pelicans have way too many colors as part of their scheme . Now they add purple, yellow, and green of this uniform to the white, navy, red, and gold of their primary design. They should just make their next logo a color wheel.

20th: Cleveland Cavaliers

Talking about teams that have too many colors in their primary logo leads us perfectly to our next subject: The Cleveland Cavaliers. Upon first glance, I thought this was the Pacers’ uniform because of that bright orange-yellow color with (what I thought was) a dark navy trim. Cleveland rocks their nickname “The Land” which is a good nickname and the City Edition is a great place to put it. The Cavs like to experiment with this very sharp and somewhat futuristic typeface for the name and number and, while interesting, it seems like an odd fit for the working class town of Cleveland. This, plus the choice of making the uniform gray, is cause for it’s rank as the 20th best uniform.

19th: Houston Rockets

Though not officially released, this is what we are being told is going to be Houston’s last jersey. This design, the two Mandarin characters meaning “Rockets”, first debuted on sleeved jerseys in 2014 for the team. They appear to be sticking with it for this season and it’s a decent look. I was hoping Houston would embrace a bit of a space theme (like the Magic did) given their proximity to the NASA station and their name, but instead they went with this design which is suitable. Nothing too impressive, but definitely not anything ugly.

18th: Boston Celtics

We get it Celtics, you guys have a cool court. For this kit, Boston embraces their “iconic” (it’s just wood) parquet floor and decided to apply that design to their jersey. Though I applaud the creativity, it’s a little hard to look at. From this picture at least, the parquet design is not subtle enough and causes an ill-fitting contrast between the text and base. On their shorts they have a white patch that reads “2008 World Champions” for which the ten-year anniversary of is coming up.

17th: Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers draw their inspiration for this snake skinned jersey from the Mamba himself, Kobe Bryant. I like seeing the Lakers branch out of the strict purple and gold look theme they have gone with for dozens of years. The dark reptilian base provides a nice, but not too distracting, background that the yellow letters bounce off of. Though I am a fan of Kobe Bryant, I don’t love the idea of basing a jersey that is supposed to represent your city off of one player, especially with a storied franchise like the Lakers where you have a lot to choose from. The Lakers may love Kobe, but he is no longer their identity and it would’ve been more fitting to make this a Big Baller Brand jersey (kidding).

16th: Los Angeles Clippers

I put LA’s second favorite team ahead their counterpart despite their irrelevance to the city. The Clippers have gotten some heat since they created their new logos and font to kick off the Steve Balmer era. The text across the jersey still is ugly but the remainder of the jersey is fresh. The choice of light blue, which is an incredibly underused color in professional sports, is sharp and the orange accent works well. They’re going for a sailing theme which is fitting given their name and on the opposite side of the shorts they threw on three nautical flags that spell out “LAC”. How flags can spell something is confusing to me but I do love the attention to detail here. Overall a clean jersey and it represents the Clippers history well given that the franchise got it’s start in San Diego.

15th: Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks pay homage to their early 1970’s uniform and add a modern twist of their own with this kit. The city name typeface has a very urban feel, possibly representative of the Atlanta hip hop community. They add the triangle design on the side which serves as the base for their other three jerseys. Blending the old with the new is always a popular tactic and, though many teams butcher this tactic, Atlanta seems to have the right idea. The light lime green pops off the black and I can’t wait to see 2 Chainz rock this in a few months (Tru!).

14th: Chicago Bulls

The bulls take the colors of the Windy City’s flag for uniform. The pinkish red and light blue and a natural fit, though it reminds me of space jam (which may not be a bad thing). Picking the city’s flag as the inspiration for the “City Edition” uniform seems to be taking the assignment at face value and might seem confusing to those who are unfamiliar with it. We haven’t seen a lot of the cursive titling so far which makes the use of it here a plus and the distinct six-pointed stars look very clean.

13th: Washington Wizards

The DC family embraces their unofficial nickname with this white jersey. The Wizards embrace their capital city mentality here and include the Washington Monument “d” graphic that is featured on their center court. The white on white shoulder edges was a good call and the simple bright red sides are perfect. The Wizards have a problem with jerseys that are way too messy, featuring multiple horizontal sections of navy, white, and red but luckily they have done away with that design for this one. The “Of Columbia” is unnecessary and crowds the top a little bit but it isn’t enough to knock this jersey down.

12th: Indiana Pacers

This one was tough to grade. Jerseys that have vertical stripe designs have never been that appealing to me, but this one is done expertly. The Pacers place 12th because of their ability to keep it simple and meaningful. They chose to just incorporate just two colors on the entire jersey and the contrast between them is fantastic. The vertical stripe with the checkered pattern symbolize the Indianapolis 500, an event that is embedded into the culture of the city. The circular graphic is crisp and modern and the Pacers have one of my favorite color combinations in the NBA.

11th: Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizz keep it simple here and they made the right call. In remembrance of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination, the jersey text resembles the “I Am A Man” signs from the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike, an iconic event in civil rights history. This uncomplicated jersey is a nice breath of fresh air compared to their cluttered (but still cool) others.

10th: Portland Trailblazers

The Blazers bring back the absolute best nickname in the NBA and, though I don’t really know what “Rip City” means, it looks intimidating as always on their new jerseys. The plaid, a look I have never seen an NBA team rock, is a tribute to legendary Portland Coach Jack Ramsay and his distinct plaid suits. The plaid is not too distracting which makes so that the red text is still in sharp contrast. The kit features the city flag on the top of the shorts which definitely has “Portland” feel. The Blazers are succeeding to “Keep Portland Weird” with this design. Weird and fantastic.

9th: Toronto Raptors

Though not officially released, we get a sneak peek at the Toronto Raptor’s new uniforms from the NBA Europe site and they look great. The NBA’s only non-American team embraces the 6 God aka Aubrey Graham aka Drake on this jersey. OVO sound, Drake’s label, have the exact same color scheme for their logo and it makes sense that the Raptors would embrace their most famous fan. They go with the simple “North” as the only identifier of their team, perfectly in sync with their identity and city as the 6 flips upside down and ranks at 9.

8th: New York Knicks

Coming in at number eight are the New York Knickerbockers who are honoring the New York City Fire Department with this clever uniform. They replicate a typical firefighter graphic while placing “Knicks” at the top. Though intended to fight flames, these uniforms are straight heat. The dark navy plus orange combo will never go out of style (shoutout to fellow New York team Syracuse Orange) and while the logo itself is intricate, the rest of the jersey is fairly simple leading to all the focus being drawn to the center. Things are looking up for the Knicks and if they wanted to put Porzingis’ face on every jersey I don’t think anyone in the Big Apple would mind.

7th: Denver Nuggets

If you’ve made it this far into the article (and credit to you if you have) you’ve realized my love for navy blue jerseys and so it should come as no surprise that I have the Denver Nuggets at number seven. Over the years the Nuggets have had some of the most consistently impressive uniforms, with their gold mountain skyline jerseys and now introducing this mining pickaxe design. It’s unique, it’s intimidating, and it fits the city’s image. They throw the “5280” (number of feet in a mile if you never took middle school math) on the shorts waistband to signify that this is the Mile High City and top it with the futuristic mountain design on the shorts. No complaints on this one.

6th: Sacramento Kings

I might get some flak for ranking the Kings new jerseys this low, but give me some time to explain myself. Sac-Town has done an amazing job with their new lion infused logo so the incorporation of it here scores major points. The powder blue and crimson color choice is a take on a throwback jersey that blends it with a modern style. Sacramento is rebranding with their young team and I am on board with it provided they keep Blue Diamond, an almond company, as their jersey sponsor.

5th: Golden State Warriors

The Warriors answer my persistent question, “How many colors can one team have?” with this uniform although the Dubs somehow make it look amazing. They stick with the famous circle design featuring the Golden Gate bridge while including a frighteningly cool dragon logo, paying tribute to the Chinese culture of the San Francisco bay area. The “Prosperity” copy in the bottom corner confuses me but I’m willing to overlook it for this impressive design.

4th: Philadelphia 76ers

In my heart, the Philadelphia 76ers are always number one, but in uniform ranking they will have to settle for number four. The Process Trusters embrace Philly’s rich colonial American past with this outfit. The first thing to notice if the off-white color, supposedly the color of parchment paper, paired with the cursive writing both of which are nods to the Declaration of Independence, written in Philly. In the bottom corner, though not shown here, “Unite or Die” is written which is a reference to the flag created by the Sons of Liberty to inspire colonists to turn against the British empire (I know my American history). This one ranks so high because of the attention to detail and the symbolism.

3rd: Milwaukee Bucks

OFF-WHITE IS THE NEW BLACK! Milwaukee embraces my newly-created motto with their new jerseys and I could not be more pleased. Their “Cream City” nickname is symbolic of the famous cream colored bricks that can be found all over Milwaukee architecture and making this the base of the jersey that color is a fantastic idea. The Bucks put the best logo in all of the NBA on display with it’s intricate details like “M” as the deer’s neck and the antler’s forming a basketball shape. If you told me two years ago that my favorite NBA color scheme would be cream, blue, and green I would not have believed you, but it is 2018 and here we are.

2nd: Miami Heat

MIAMI VICE!!! As someone raised in a city where we worship a fictional sports character (Rocky Balboa), I can completely get behind this Heat jersey that channels a classic TV show. The jersey feels like the city of Miami, or at least how it is depicted on screen. The color choices are tropical and the text is very 80’s. All we have to do is get Don Johnson in the starting lineup and we should be good.

1st: Utah Jazz

We finally get a glimpse of what Utah would do if they didn’t have the Jazz nickname imposed on them when they moved from New Orleans. Salt Lake City is not a place that closely aligns with Jazz music, but, despite this, the team has been able to create fantastic jerseys throughout the years and this may be their best one yet. They honor the colors of their landscape with this gold to burgundy fade, specifically their red rock formations. Both sides of the jersey feature lines depicting the driving routes from Salt Lake City to Moab and St. George. It’s an absolutely beautiful jersey, almost like a piece of art that fully embraces the state of Utah. The jersey is a 10 out of 10 and well deserving of this coveted top spot.