NBA City Edition Jerseys: Ranking Nike’s efforts from worst to first
The NBA will be celebrating its 75th anniversary with these special uniforms
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NBA and Nike unveiled a fresh set of City Edition jerseys on Monday morning. All 30 of the league’s teams are represented with tops and shorts that contain details of moments from each franchise’s most memorable eras.
Some, however, are better than others. We took a look at all 30 and put them in order of how much we like them.
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Boring. And if you’re going to do the all-white thing, make sure you get your jersey sponsor onboard too.
29. Miami Heat
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Basketball uniform or ransom note?
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We had to go and look to make sure these just aren’t their regular uniforms.
27. Boston Celtics
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Some cool shoutouts to the long and storied history of the franchise, but those shorts can’t be unseen.
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The lightning bolts are a sweet nod to the Latrell Sprewell and Baron Davis years, but otherwise it’s not that differentiated from their usual sets.
25. Detroit Pistons
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Cool shorts, but their rivalry with the Bulls means the Pistons should never be a red dominant team.
24. New York Knicks
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If we’re celebrating history, these threads should have more callbacks to the Knicks’ championship past (however short it was). Right now that’s limited to the team’s retired numbers on the waistband.
23. Sacramento Kings
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Solid but ultimately uninspiring tribute to the turn of the century teams.
22. Houston Rockets
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Not enough elements from the franchise’s back-to-back title teams for our liking. The look they resurrected has been the Rockets’ worst.
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We want to love these. The jarring inclusion of the primary black logo against the old-school colors just doesn’t work.
20. Portland Trailblazers
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This is one of the NBA’s best looks, but we’re docking the City Edition points for not being different enough from the usual jams.
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This is a great compilation of all the distinct periods in Cavaliers history, but we’ve never been a fan of the crimson-and-gold.
18. Orlando Magic
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These are sharp, but the big feature is that the color is a tribute to the state’s … citrus industry? Orlando isn’t hurting for history that badly.
17. Indiana Pacers
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Not necessarily our cup of tea, but anything that makes Pacers fans think of Reggie Miller is a good thing.
16. Chicago Bulls
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Best feature: The callout to the black pinstripes of the Jordan era on the side of the shorts.
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Raawr! Best shorts of all the new City Edition kits.
14. Atlanta Hawks
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Fantastic primary color, fantastic logo. Can’t wait to see these in action.
13. Dallas Mavericks
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Not all NBA teams should adopt their City Edition uniforms as their full-time threads. But the Mavericks should.
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The shade of blue and the warmth of the orange makes us want to buy one on our way to the beach (where is where these uniforms make us want to head.)
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The Lakers don’t always incorporate the Minneapolis years all that well, but the baby blue accents take care of it. Great look.
10. Brooklyn Nets
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The team has left so much of New Jersey behind after moving to the borough. These are a nice tribute to their days in another state.
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Solid stripes. A wealth of details. This is another uniform that could be a full-time look.
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Last summer’s NBA title drew a straight line from the 1971 NBA championship to the current era. These uniforms do a great job of incorporating both and additional eras in between.
7. Phoenix Suns
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The team already wore these last season and decided not to change anything. Why mess with a great thing?
6. Utah Jazz
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If you’ve ever road-tripped through the beautiful state of Utah, you’re going to love these uniforms.
5. Charlotte Hornets
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We’d love to hop into a time machine and see Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning and Muggsy Bogues wearing these.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
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The T’Wolves might be the worst NBA franchise of the last 30 years, but they’ve never been the worst-dressed. Every look the team has ever worn is on this set.
3. Toronto Raptors
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Why should the New Orleans Saints have all the fun? More teams should opt for black and gold.
2. Denver Nuggets
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Colorful and eye-catching, these uniforms really capture the spirit of the thing.
1. Philadelphia 76ers
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Some might have these Spectrum-inspired uniforms near the bottom of their rankings. But we just love them (and we’re not even Sixers fans).
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