NBA Fixer-Upper Series

[mattr1198]

Hey,

 

Decided I'd start a series up fixing all 30 NBA's teams' uniforms. These mostly won't be significant changes to team branding as a whole (except for possibly a couple of cases), but a refresh in some way of every teams' icon, association, and/or statement uniforms. I'll be starting off with a few teams in the Atlantic Division to kickstart things off, noting major changes along the way, and go by standings order:

 

Philadelphia 76ers: While the great core stars and stripes design of the uniform remains unchanged, I decided to incorporate the much more unique and beloved cursive design of the statement uniforms into all of the uniforms, while promoting the red statement uniform to the icon uniform, making a minor change to the pant logo to match the other uniforms. The red uniform also has historically been the main colored uniform for the team, more so than blue.

 

 

Brooklyn Nets: The Nets' icon and association uniforms get some minor tweaks with the side designs, incorporating the Brooklyn Bridge design from the team's first city uniform. It spices up and "Brooklyn-izes" an otherwise more subtle uniform. The statement uniform receives a gray gradient and the old NJ Nets side panel design to pay homage to the team's history, while also featuring a more traditional Nets font, rather than the ugly and jarring graffiti style used in the current statement uniforms.

 

 

New York Knicks: The Knicks receive some more substantial changes to their overall uniform look. First, I made the orange and blue a lot stronger and more colorful to pop a bit more, while also removing the silver accents entirely. I also reverted the Knicks to their older, much less stubby team and number fonts they had used for over 50 years prior to 2012 to harken back to the older glory days. The biggest change comes with an all-new statement uniform, taking inspiration from the 90s-00s uniforms that are much beloved. However, it is primarily navy, featuring the team's main orange and blue as secondary colors on the side/pant design. The Knicks' old subway token (NYK) logo also comes back into the fold to complete the look.

 

Boston Celtics: While the classic icon and association uniforms receive no changes for the Celts, the statement uniform is completely redesigned. The chest font is thrown back to the 1950s-60s in the team's dynasty years with Bill Russell, while gold is incorporated into the uniform as a tertiary color, also paying homage to the team's 17 championships. The number also gets added to the shorts for the first time since the 1950s to match the styling.

 

 

Toronto Raptors: I kept the basic elements, like the chevron, of the Raps uniforms in tact, but I brought back the purple as a main color. There are too many teams out there right now with black and red in my opinion, bringing purple back would invoke some nostalgia in fans and give the Raps a much more unique look that's truly different from other teams in sports.

 

I will be doing the central division next, but let me know what you think!

[jwinters]

You've got some great looks here! I don't love BFBS for the Knicks, especially without any blue, but you know better than I do what Knicks fans want to see.

 

As a Raptors fan, I'm glad you brought back purple! Unless I'm forgetting someone, purple/red is unique across the big four leagues, whereas there's so much black/red. I don't think I've seen any Raptors concept worse than the actual uniforms, but this one stands out for how well it mixes eras, with the original purple and the present day chevron. I still want them to wear a jersey that says "TORONTO" at least some of the time, but I understand that Raps fans in other parts of the country probably don't.

[BWICK24]

As a Sixers fan I really love what you did having different scripts on each uniform. I feel like on the current set "PHILA" is too repetitive.

 

Keep up the Good work! I look forward to the rest of the series!!

[mattr1198]

Leading off for the Central Division, the first two teams we have are:

Chicago Bulls: Near untouchable uniforms, some of the best in the all of sports. Only modification I made was to the Statement uniform, altering the pant design to better match the sleeves. Otherwise, the Bulls are iconic and touching it any further will only make things worse.

 

Cleveland Cavaliers: In my honest opinion, the Cavs have easily the worst uniform set in the NBA and arguably the worst brand in all of sports as well. Thus, the uniforms get a complete redesign from the ground up. First off, I saturated the wine a bit more and completely eliminated both navy and black from the color scheme, which only dragged the whole Cavs brand down. In addition, I took inspiration from the Cleveland script sign (and Cavs' old city uniforms) to redo the chest font and gave the team an all-new number font as well. The uniform features a new sleeve, side design, and short design, modernizing the Cavs uniforms from the 2000s when Lebron put Cleveland on the map. The outline of Ohio also now sits on the waist area, taken from the team's old City uniform, as well as the new yellow Statement uniform also. This uniform may be the most drastic transformation I do, so let me know what you think!

 

Pistons, Pacers, and Bucks up next

[MilSox]

Definitely following this thread. Looking forward to seeing what you do with my Bucks!

[Indigo]

The Knicks need blue on the side panels and numbers, as the orange alone just doesn’t do it for me. (And this comes from someone who loves black jerseys with black outlined numbers).

I like what you did with Toronto, but I think you should emphasize red and de-emphasize black. Purple and red is a unique color scheme in all sports, and the Kings already own black-n-purple.

[mattr1198]

10 hours ago, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

The Knicks need blue on the side panels and numbers, as the orange alone just doesn’t do it for me. (And this comes from someone who loves black jerseys with black outlined numbers).

I like what you did with Toronto, but I think you should emphasize red and de-emphasize black. Purple and red is a unique color scheme in all sports, and the Kings already own black-n-purple.

I tried experimenting with blue side panels and numbers, but it just didn't work well and blended in awkwardly with the black. I also feel the black is still kind of necessary for the Raps, as red and purple don't contrast well enough to just go by themselves. Maybe I could try and experiment a bit more with a different, non-black/potentially red statement uni for them when I get back around to making edits.

[mattr1198]

Finishing up the Central Division, we have:

 

Detroit Pistons: The Piston's existing set is rather solid, although I reverted the icon uniform back to the red front, along with red sleeves to match the text. I also saturated the blue back to the older, stronger shade the team used. The statement uniform, though, is where I completely changed things up. Their current statement is truly awful in my opinion, so I ditched it entirely and brought a red alternate back, taking on the styling of the original Detroit/Zollner Pistons uniforms with the text design, and made the neck a U-neck to match the old uniform styling, while adding the team's other secondary logo to the pant.

 

Indiana Pacers: For the record, I absolutely love the Pacers' city uniform from this past season, bringing back the unique pinstripes. Thus, I decided to adopt this styling for a new icon and association jersey, making edits to the coloring to match the team's current scheme and changed the waist logo to the team's main alternate. The statement uniform, which I think was great, gets some modifications to its font, as I adopted the team's current font and italicized it to keep the uniform set consistent.

 

Milwaukee Bucks: The changes for the Bucks mostly come through color simplification. Gone are the unnecessary black and the light blue that was superfluous. This simplifies the team's new color scheme down to just green, cream, and white. The side paneling on both the icon and association uniform reflects this change, ditching both colors and replicating the style of the 1980s Bucks uniforms. The old black deer head statement gets tossed though and replaced with a cream jersey, which takes styling from the earned jersey they have this year, namely the deer antlers incorporated into the jersey which looks pretty cool. I faded the antlers into the background and also updated the front font to be different, now reading the city abbreviation of MKE, as well as the alternate logo being added to the pant.

 

Southeast division up next!

[Telemundo219]

I'd reverse Indiana's uniforms i.e. make the Navy and Blue like the Yellow and the Yellow like the pinstripes, IMO

[mattr1198]

Here are the first 3 for the Southeast Division:

Atlanta Hawks: The changes made for the Hawks' association and icon unis are rather minor. I moved the logo off the side of the short to the front leg of the short, making the logo more prominent, while also adding a drop shadow on the chest text to match the numbers. I also changed the front of the association to read Hawks instead. The statement uniform gets a complete overhaul, bringing back both the yellow jersey and "ATL" front text that had been on the uniform for over a decade prior. Colors are adjusted appropriately as well and the yellow uni stands out a lot better than the bfbs statement used before.

 

Charlotte Hornets: The association jersey for the Hornets doesn't receive any major changes on top, while the icon's awkward white pinstripes and sleeves are changed to the team's purple, which looks cleaner and a little more subtle than the white used before. The statement uniform brings Buzz City front and center, while also incorporating the pinstripes as well like the other two uniforms. All three unis receive new shorts though, ditching the, in my opinion, off-putting new short design for a more traditional short resembling what the team used in their first stint. Hugo also finally comes to the uniform in the form of the logo on the waist of the statement uniform.

 

Miami Heat: The Heat uniforms get a complete overhaul. I actually elected to make 2 different concepts for the heat, both featuring the same uniform style, a mixed version of the team's original styling from the 80s and 90s and the Miami Vice styling. However, one features slightly altered/darkened (for contrast) Vice colors, which I think could give the Heat a very unique and flashy identity, more so than the team's traditional red and black, which is very common amongst all sports. However, I included uniforms in those traditional colors and a slightly altered logo as well. Let me know which looks better!

 

Final 2 Eastern Conference teams upcoming

[Indigo]

On 5/25/2021 at 4:21 PM, mattr1198 said:

 

Miami Heat: The Heat uniforms get a complete overhaul. I actually elected to make 2 different concepts for the heat, both featuring the same uniform style, a mixed version of the team's original styling from the 80s and 90s and the Miami Vice styling. However, one features slightly altered/darkened (for contrast) Vice colors, which I think could give the Heat a very unique and flashy identity, more so than the team's traditional red and black, which is very common amongst all sports. However, I included uniforms in those traditional colors and a slightly altered logo as well. Let me know which looks better!

 

 

I think instead of white, you should use more yellow on the icon and statement.

[bcon_731]

Thoughts on the Lakers going back to powder blue and gold? 

[mattr1198]

On 5/30/2021 at 3:32 PM, bcon_731 said:

Thoughts on the Lakers going back to powder blue and gold? 

I think their purple and gold at this point is far too iconic and associated with the brand to go back to the powder blue

[mattr1198]

Hey all, I decided to try and throw some yellow into the Heat's statement uniform to see how potentially to integrate yellow into the Heat uniform somehow. It didn't look as good with the icon and association uniforms, but the statement I think upgrades from adding yellow:

 

More important though, the next teams up for this series:

 

Orlando Magic: The Magic uniforms keep the modern pinstriping pattern and font, but everything else on the uniform gets changed. The uncolored wishbone neck and sleeves is replaced with a two color sleeve design matching the wordmark and a u-neck, which makes the uniform pop a bit more. The association uniform's wordmark and numbers get a color swap, switching to black for the first time, which pops a bit more than blue in my opinion. The pinstripes also get switched from grey/silver to blue as well on the uniform. The statement uniform brings back the team's original icon uniform from 2008 to complete the look. All the uniforms remove the side pattern and the short reverts to a basic single stripe pattern to match the sleeves, as well as the team's logo taking place of the wordmark on the waist. 

 

Washington Wizards: The Wizards' current uniform is one of the best modern uniforms out there, so I left the association and icon uniforms alone. The statement uniform gets a replacement/upgrade with the design of the team's city uniform from this past year meshing with the team's existing statement uniform's wordmark to create a new, silver statement.

 

The West comes next!

[Blindsay]

For the Wizards’ statement, I’d put an American Flag Stripe where it usually is for the other 2

[mattr1198]

After a bit of a break, I'm finally getting to the Western Conference! Note I'm still working on the Nuggets, but wanted to get these other Northwest Division teams out before.

 

Minnesota Timberwolves: The T-Wolves have one of the best Nike sets around in my opinion, so I left the icon and association jersey as is. However, the jarring neon green statement uniform gets a complete color refresh, adopting the team's more traditional blue as the main color. Styling remains similar, but now features MSP (from the 2020 City uniform) on the chest and a smaller number to compensate for the wordmark.

 

Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder, on the other hand, get a top to bottom refresh. Gone is the unnecessary yellow from both the logo and uni. The bland wordmark is replaced by updated versions of the "Thunderbolt" font the team has used in their prior statement and city uniforms. The wordmarks swap back again, reversing a rather confusing move the team made upon switching to the Nike system. The side design is updated blending the prior design with the statement design. The pant also gets a new look with two stripes at the bottom plus a very small colored line at the trim. Finally, the statement uniform takes inspiration from the city uniform used in 2018 and adopts a different wordmark with the number off-center, while retaining the same styling as the icon/association uniforms.

 

Nuggets, Blazers, and Jazz will be coming up next!

[MilSox]

On 5/23/2021 at 10:31 PM, mattr1198 said:

Milwaukee Bucks: The changes for the Bucks mostly come through color simplification. Gone are the unnecessary black and the light blue that was superfluous. This simplifies the team's new color scheme down to just green, cream, and white. The side paneling on both the icon and association uniform reflects this change, ditching both colors and replicating the style of the 1980s Bucks uniforms. The old black deer head statement gets tossed though and replaced with a cream jersey, which takes styling from the earned jersey they have this year, namely the deer antlers incorporated into the jersey which looks pretty cool. I faded the antlers into the background and also updated the front font to be different, now reading the city abbreviation of MKE, as well as the alternate logo being added to the pant.

 

Southeast division up next!

 

The white and green really do look better without the black and blue forced in. Not sure about the alt. I feel like the antlers should at least be green if you go that route.

[mattr1198]

For the last 3 teams of the Northwest Division:

 

Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers' general design is pretty great, so only minor changes come to their set. The front wordmark gets italicized and outlined to match the styling of older uniforms and the numbers on the uniforms already. The statement uniform also gets a sleeve change to better fit the styling of the wordmark and number. Otherwise, things stay pretty conservative.

 

Utah Jazz: The Jazz uniforms are also rather solid and only receive a few alterations, mostly to the front/back numbers. First, the colors for the numbers gets swapped on both of the main uniforms to match the wordmark. In addition, the numbers on those uniforms receive a styling treatment to match the styling of the wordmark, which I think makes the uniforms more synergetic and unique. Finally, the statement uniform gets color swapped to green (similar to their old earned jersey), which is less garish than the yellow one used now. 

 

Denver Nuggets: I elected to switch things up a bit with the Nuggets uniforms, which do a different kind of era-blending. I promoted the team's old red City uniform to the main set (since I think it looks spectacular), while creating a white version adjusted with the team's colors of red, yellow, and navy getting more prominence. The statement uniform takes design hints from the team's Earned uni from this past year. I was struggling to fix the Nuggets' set, so I may come back to redo this one, but didn't want to halt my progress on this series.

 

Pacific Division next!

[mattr1198]

Starting with the Pacific, I have two of the most noteworthy teams:

 

Golden State Warriors: I love the overall styling of the Warriors jerseys, but the front looks rather cluttered with all the text. Thus, I made an alteration to both the icon and association jerseys, with the front of the jerseys taking on the styling of older jerseys the team used. The icon jersey now reads "Golden State", while the association jersey reads "Warriors". The statement jersey is great and remains unchanged.

 

Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers get some significant changes to their jersey sets relative to others. The yellow jersey simply gets pushed to be the new association jersey, but major changes come with the other jerseys. The most notable change is the return of the purple jersey as the icon jersey, while the white jersey switches from the association jersey to the statement uni, bringing back the "Sunday Whites" tradition as an alternate rather than a main uniform worn other times. However, the changes don't stop there. The purple association jersey receives a new neck/sleeve design similar to that of the association jersey, while also bringing back the yellow waistband and white numbers with a yellow drop shadow from the showtime Laker uniforms of the 80s and 90s. The white statement, however, incorporates more design elements from the Kobe-era uniforms. using a simpler two-colored neck/sleeve design, while bringing back the side and short design of those uniforms as well.

 

Clippers, Suns, and Kings to come...

[mattr1198]

Closing out the Pacific Division (finally) we have:

 

LA Clippers: The Clippers brand as a whole could use a total re-do, but I'm still sticking with the existing image. However, I did remove black completely from the color scheme and uniforms, given it was something much maligned by fans and is totally superfluous. Uniform-wise, both the icon and association uniforms get a new neck design and added matching sleeve designs, as well as continuing the stripe down the side to the pant, creating a more unified look. Finally, I dumped the existing black statement jersey and replaced it with a traditional red jersey with similar styling to the other two.

 

Phoenix Suns: The Suns get a total uniform refresh/reversal, as I think their current uniforms truly suck and are boring in every single way. While I kept the side/pant and sleeve design for the uniforms (save for the addition of purple on the statement), everything else gets totally changed. The icon and association front designs revert back to their Adidas form, with the "Shooting Sun" design returning to the mix, while also getting simplified and recolored a bit, removing the bevel from those older uniforms. The team's primary logo goes to the pant while their alternate PHX sun logo (reminiscent of their Nash-era uniforms) goes to the shorts. The new orange statement changes things up quite a bit though with "PHX" now across the chest, no "Shooting Sun" design (more akin to the Nash-era), and the primary logo and alternate logo flip-flopping placement.

 

Sacramento Kings: While their icon and association uniforms are some of the best in the league and don't receive changes, their statement uniform gets a refresh. It takes inspiration from their city uniforms, just taking on their main colors rather than older colors, swapping the sky blue for black and red for purple.