NBA away white unis?

[Saloos]

I noticed a trend of teams wearing white unis on road lately?

Since I'm a pretty much avid on NBA, my memory tells me that the first occurrence of this was last year when LeBron James debuted his new pair of Nikes, and since they were in blue/wine colors, and Cavs played against the Wizards, they walked out in their standard away jerseys and Wizards came out in white.

I was pretty upset with this, because the way league's pampering James and Kobe is just preposterous, stars always get good some treatment, that's how it goes, but those two guys...

Anyway. I never saw that before, but I see it now on a random basis from random teams.

So it's pretty much obvious NBA allows this. Why? And how do they regulate it. It looks outta place. Weird. Lame. But whatever.

[slapshot]

Some teams have alternate dark uniforms and wish to wear them at home. Boston does this with the black alts and the gold alts.

[BBTV]

I'm a fan of white at home, because I like seeing the visiting team's colors when I'm there, but I have no issue with them switching up from time to time. However, I do think that if the team has different designs / wordmarks on their home and road jerseys, then when they switch up, they should wear a dark version of their home uniform, not simply their road one.

[DustDevil61]

I'd like to see some more light color/color matchups, like the Suns' orange or the Jazz's light blue worn at home and the road team wears their normal road uniforms if there is enough contrast.

I love white as a uniform color, but making the road team wear their whites when the Pacers don their gold (yellow) alternates at home when the road team playing the Lakers in Los Angeles wears their normal road uniform just isn't fair. This should be more about contrast (think Jazz' light blue at home vs. Lakers' purple or Sun's orange vs. Spurs' black) than the one-team-must-wear-white rule. Mind you, that will likely mean much less white uniforms worn all around, but the NBA should institute a rule on what uniforms can be worn by the home and road teams.

For example, the Jazz' light blue vs. Nuggets' light blue won't work, so should the Jazz opt to wear their light blues at home vs. the Nuggets, then the Nuggets would only have the choice between their home whites (so should they choose) or their navy alternates. However, I think that this should mostly apply to lighter colors (orange, light blue, yellow-gold), though the occasional red at home (Blazers, Hawks come to mind) could work, provided that the road team wears a jersey that contrasts enough with the red (green, blue, etc.). If there's no other option, then whites on the road would be the best option.

So, in short, it should work out something like the NFL, where the home team chooses their home uniform, while the road team chooses their home or a well-contrasting alternate. In other words, white uniforms are the "default" home uniform for all teams, with the exception of the Lakers (who wear their yellow-golds most of the time at home); in other words, no Dallas Cowboys scenario where what should be the road uniform (in their case, the white uniforms) or an alt. is worn more than what should be the white home uniform (the navy uniforms).

[STL FANATIC]

The difference is that NFL teams and more importantly their equipment managers have all week to figure out which ONE set of gear to take. NBA and NHL teams on road trips don't have that luxury.

Honestly, with all the alternates in both the NBA and the NHL, I really think they're heading straight towards borrowing the idea of clash kits from soccer versus that we discussed in an NHL thread. As I mentioned in that thread, the most feasible way to do that is to make the home team change uniforms in the case of a clash so as to keep the amount of equipment teams must travel with down.

But who knows if either of the leagues will give that any serious thought.

[powersurge]

I honestly don't care where or when teams where white. What bugs me is when teams like Cleveland over wear their alt jerseys. It seems like they wear them every other day (I know they don't, but it sure seems like it)

[hormone]

I wish the league (and all leagues) would stick to one rule. Either pick colors for home or whites for home...for all. I think colors for home is the simplest because of all the alts/throwbacks anymore. I don't care about the equipment arguments or comparisons to other sports. I hate seeing a highlight and having to wait until it goes to center to see which logo is there.

[CubsFanBudMan]

This has gone on longer than a year. I know the Bulls played in their green unis 2-3 years ago against the Celtics (!), the Heat debuted a modified version of their red alt a few years back, and I believe possible as long as six years ago the Magic were allowed to wear their black jerseys as home.

[Bouj]

In any case, this really isn't an issue for NBA equipment managers. The league makes the teams decide well in advance what special nights the alternates will be worn. There are hard limits to the number of times that NBA teams can wear their alts, so they schedule them for certain dates.

The equipment managers already know when they have to take more than one set of uniforms on road trips.

[Big D]

Why doesn't the NBA just change the rule that white uni's are for away and the color uni's are for home? Since, most NBA teams like to wear their alternates at home.

[Discogod]

I'd love to know why the NBA stopped all teams apart from the Lakers (whom I'm guessing were grandfathered in) from wearing colours at home. Go back to the 70's and 80's and you've got teams like the Warriors, Pacers, Cavs, Spurs, Pistons and Sonics all having light coloured home unis. With all the teams with light coloured alts there' no reason the league shouldn' go back to those days.

[McCall]

Why doesn't the NBA just change the rule that white uni's are for away and the color uni's are for home? Since, most NBA teams like to wear their alternates at home.

Disagree completely. Leave whites as the home uniform. When I see white uniforms in any sport, other than football, I automatically think home team. It looks so much nicer when the home team is in white. Besides, when it's reversed, like in hockey now, every game you see the same thing; you're team's "blue" jersey vs white, which is boring. When the home team wears white, you have white vs different color every game.

[Red Wolf]

Why doesn't the NBA just change the rule that white uni's are for away and the color uni's are for home? Since, most NBA teams like to wear their alternates at home.

Disagree completely. Leave whites as the home uniform. When I see white uniforms in any sport, other than football, I automatically think home team. It looks so much nicer when the home team is in white. Besides, when it's reversed, like in hockey now, every game you see the same thing; you're team's "blue" jersey vs white, which is boring. When the home team wears white, you have white vs different color every game.

I really hate that hockey has changed it like that. Every time I catch a game or highlights on TV my first thought is still that the team is white is the home team.

[IceCap]

Why doesn't the NBA just change the rule that white uni's are for away and the color uni's are for home? Since, most NBA teams like to wear their alternates at home.

Disagree completely. Leave whites as the home uniform. When I see white uniforms in any sport, other than football, I automatically think home team. It looks so much nicer when the home team is in white. Besides, when it's reversed, like in hockey now, every game you see the same thing; you're team's "blue" jersey vs white, which is boring. When the home team wears white, you have white vs different color every game.

I really hate that hockey has changed it like that. Every time I catch a game or highlights on TV my first thought is still that the team is white is the home team.

I disagree. With the advent of the alternate jersey it makes darks at home that much more practical. Plus, in today's age of cable television where you can watch pretty much any game your team plays, the old "we only get to see the team colour vs white" argument becomes obsolete.

[STL FANATIC]

In any case, this really isn't an issue for NBA equipment managers. The league makes the teams decide well in advance what special nights the alternates will be worn. There are hard limits to the number of times that NBA teams can wear their alts, so they schedule them for certain dates.

The equipment managers already know when they have to take more than one set of uniforms on road trips.

That's fine, but it doesn't mean they don't have to take any less equipment with them..

[Old School Fool]

During the 96-97 season, the Celtics faced the Lakers and wore this on the road...

and the Lakers wore this...

[jake22]

Some teams have alternate dark uniforms and wish to wear them at home. Boston does this with the black alts and the gold alts.

Gold Alts? Those exist?

[Red Wolf]

Why doesn't the NBA just change the rule that white uni's are for away and the color uni's are for home? Since, most NBA teams like to wear their alternates at home.

Disagree completely. Leave whites as the home uniform. When I see white uniforms in any sport, other than football, I automatically think home team. It looks so much nicer when the home team is in white. Besides, when it's reversed, like in hockey now, every game you see the same thing; you're team's "blue" jersey vs white, which is boring. When the home team wears white, you have white vs different color every game.

I really hate that hockey has changed it like that. Every time I catch a game or highlights on TV my first thought is still that the team is white is the home team.

I disagree. With the advent of the alternate jersey it makes darks at home that much more practical. Plus, in today's age of cable television where you can watch pretty much any game your team plays, the old "we only get to see the team colour vs white" argument becomes obsolete.

I agree that that's a silly argument. I'm still just used to home teams in hockey being in white at home. I don't know why I can't get out of that mindset. It's not like I'm some 50 year old or something.

Some teams have alternate dark uniforms and wish to wear them at home. Boston does this with the black alts and the gold alts.

Gold Alts? Those exist?

I'm pretty sure he's just talking about the green uniforms with gold numbers and lettering.

[BBTV]

Why doesn't the NBA just change the rule that white uni's are for away and the color uni's are for home? Since, most NBA teams like to wear their alternates at home.

Disagree completely. Leave whites as the home uniform. When I see white uniforms in any sport, other than football, I automatically think home team. It looks so much nicer when the home team is in white. Besides, when it's reversed, like in hockey now, every game you see the same thing; you're team's "blue" jersey vs white, which is boring. When the home team wears white, you have white vs different color every game.

I really hate that hockey has changed it like that. Every time I catch a game or highlights on TV my first thought is still that the team is white is the home team.

I disagree. With the advent of the alternate jersey it makes darks at home that much more practical. Plus, in today's age of cable television where you can watch pretty much any game your team plays, the old "we only get to see the team colour vs white" argument becomes obsolete.

I agree that that's a silly argument. I'm still just used to home teams in hockey being in white at home. I don't know why I can't get out of that mindset. It's not like I'm some 50 year old or something.

It's not a silly argument if you actually attend the games.

Also (to a lesser extent), if you're on the east coast, you're probably not going to watch many of your team's west-coast games, so the only time you'll see those teams' "colors" is when their on your home ice.

[Red Wolf]

Why doesn't the NBA just change the rule that white uni's are for away and the color uni's are for home? Since, most NBA teams like to wear their alternates at home.

Disagree completely. Leave whites as the home uniform. When I see white uniforms in any sport, other than football, I automatically think home team. It looks so much nicer when the home team is in white. Besides, when it's reversed, like in hockey now, every game you see the same thing; you're team's "blue" jersey vs white, which is boring. When the home team wears white, you have white vs different color every game.

I really hate that hockey has changed it like that. Every time I catch a game or highlights on TV my first thought is still that the team is white is the home team.

I disagree. With the advent of the alternate jersey it makes darks at home that much more practical. Plus, in today's age of cable television where you can watch pretty much any game your team plays, the old "we only get to see the team colour vs white" argument becomes obsolete.

I agree that that's a silly argument. I'm still just used to home teams in hockey being in white at home. I don't know why I can't get out of that mindset. It's not like I'm some 50 year old or something.

It's not a silly argument if you actually attend the games.

Also (to a lesser extent), if you're on the east coast, you're probably not going to watch many of your team's west-coast games, so the only time you'll see those teams' "colors" is when their on your home ice.

Fair enough. I live in Arkansas, so there aren't really any games for me to attend. Personally I just want them to either go back to white at home or go soccer-style and let them have color on color.