2022-23 NBA Logo & Jersey Changes

[8BW14]

2 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

Speaking as someone who turned 30 in the mid-2000s, seeing "throwbacks" to this era feels strange. But I do love these. 

I agree with the sentiment. I’m just now 28 and it strange to see things from my youth become “old” in pop culture and sports. In my mind, a throwback is a uniform that comes from the 80’s or earlier. Its a real mind eff to think that 2000 was 22 years ago. 

[Germanshepherd]

 

[Germanshepherd]

 

[BBTV]

Other than not issuing #6, are teams going to be forced to "acknowledge" this by hanging banners?  Specifically, are the Sixers going to need to hang a second #6 banner next to Dr. J's... or would they be in compliance since 6 is already retired?

 

I'm fairly certain that all MLB teams display Robinson's 42 in a similar way that they do their other numbers, but I think that's a little different (and other than Mariano Rivera, I'm not sure how many 42s were already retired in MLB, vs at least a handful in NBA.)

[FamousAtticus]

5 hours ago, NH4 said:

Bucks released their purple throwbacks

 

 

Love when the ad patches nearly collide with the teams wordmarks 

[WSU151]

1 hour ago, Germanshepherd said:

 

 

This is one of those actions where I ask: Why didn't they do this when Bill was still alive? 

[Indigo]

I don't like this move for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, it feels like they are blatantly copying the MLB with Jackie Robinson, and although Russell was a major pioneer for Black athletes, his contributions don't exactly match up 1:1 with Jackie's. Secondly, the #6 is such a commonly used number in basketball that it is just aesthetically wrong to do so, and the number has been used by many NBA greats, from Dr. J to Walter Davis to Ben Wallace to LeBron. Thirdly, as @BBTV pointed out, will teams like the Sixers and Magic who already retired #6 have to do so again, or will the requirement have already been met? Fourthly, they do this for Bill Russell but not Kobe Bryant, who's #24 is much more recognizable with said player than Russell and #6. 

 

Overall, kinda a minor league move by the NBA, IMO. We can celebrate Bill Russell without making him Jackie Robinson.

[spartacat_12]

35 minutes ago, BBTV said:

Other than not issuing #6, are teams going to be forced to "acknowledge" this by hanging banners?  Specifically, are the Sixers going to need to hang a second #6 banner next to Dr. J's... or would they be in compliance since 6 is already retired?

 

I'm fairly certain that all MLB teams display Robinson's 42 in a similar way that they do their other numbers, but I think that's a little different (and other than Mariano Rivera, I'm not sure how many 42s were already retired in MLB, vs at least a handful in NBA.)

 

I doubt they'll have every team raise a banner. Gretzky's number is retired NHL-wide, but the Oilers & Kings are the only teams with a 99 in the rafters.

 

Retiring a number across a whole league went relatively smoothly for baseball & hockey because those players were synonymous with their respective numbers. This is different because Russell is arguably not even the best player to wear the number. If you did a poll of basketball fans and asked, "who is the first player who comes to mind when you think of the number 6?",  some would say Russell, some would say Dr. J, and some would say Lebron.

 

I think a better honour would've been to alter the NBA logo to include Russell & Jerry West, maybe facing off for a jump ball. Having both a black & white player represented would highlight the work Russell did towards the civil rights movement, plus it would be a tribute to the league's most historic rivalry.

[1insaneguy]

Big fan of the Wizards throwback, although the gold/black jersey was my favorite from that era. I really liked last season's city jerseys as well. It's been a nice change from them simply recycling "the District of Columbia" or the "dc" shooting a basketball logo. 

 

Now that I'm thinking about it, I really enjoy teams from DC using gold/gold accents. I think it's a nice touch, and even if the Wizards 90s-2000s look doesn't stick around past this season, I hope they somehow incorporate gold into their color scheme.

[CaliforniaGlowin]

The Kings retire the lowercase b 

[ManillaToad]

3 hours ago, BBTV said:

Other than not issuing #6, are teams going to be forced to "acknowledge" this by hanging banners?  Specifically, are the Sixers going to need to hang a second #6 banner next to Dr. J's... or would they be in compliance since 6 is already retired?

 

I'm fairly certain that all MLB teams display Robinson's 42 in a similar way that they do their other numbers, but I think that's a little different (and other than Mariano Rivera, I'm not sure how many 42s were already retired in MLB, vs at least a handful in NBA.)

 

Bruce Sutter is the only other 42 retired

[FinsUp1214]

7 hours ago, ScubaSteve said:

Might get flak for this but I really do think if they switch up the wordmark its the best the Wizards have ever looked. Blue and gold fits them so much better than being another RWB team (Nation's capital be darned)

No flak from me; I’ve always considered blue and gold/bronze to be a suitably “federal” color scheme anyways (different shades here, but you get the idea):

 

 

 

 

The color scheme never looked out of place in Washington to me. If anything, I’d argue it fit Washington. I truly think the Wizards (and Capitals) should’ve kept it. I’m really stoked to see it back for the Wizards this year.

[O.C.D]

11 hours ago, NH4 said:

Bucks released their purple throwbacks

 

This is my favorite Bucks identity ( I wish the Rockies would adopt this color scheme) but I think they shrunk the wordmark and numbers too much. Not against making them smaller just not a fan of the ratio.

 

 

[adsarebad]

On 8/9/2022 at 1:55 AM, TaylorMade said:

 

The C under the Nike logo looks so bad and just further hammers home how bad the ads are.

hahaha, this looks like an NASCAR driver uniform!

 

A shame there isn't any sleeves, but the players arm and shoulder tats will hopefully take care of that blank space.

 

[DoctorWhom]

As far as Retiring Bill Russell's number, It is a bit odd but I do get it. 

Regardless of where you place him on the all time list, what is undeniable are his contributions and accomplishments. No One will ever surpass his resume. His achievements are honestly Gretzky-esqe. Yeah, you can say that maybe guys like Kobe or Jordan were better, but well, Jackie Robinson isn't exactly in the conversation for greatest player either. And as for the number, guys like Rivera were already wearing the number when they retired it. So I don't see that as a big deal for Russell. Lebron & Kobe also wore different numbers during their careers, so they aren't the synonymous with any one number. 

 

Regardless of how you feel about it, if the NBA was going to retire a player's number league wide, Bill Russell's number is one that absolutely deserved to be in that conversation. 

[BBTV]

2 hours ago, DoctorWhom said:

Regardless of how you feel about it, if the NBA was going to retire a player's number league wide, Bill Russell's number is one that absolutely deserved to be in that conversation. 

 

 

Much like with Jackie, I think if you're going to do something like this, you do it before 5,000 other players have worn the number.  I'm familiar with his resume, but 6 isn't special because of him the same way that 23 is synonymous with Jordan and 99 with Gretzky.  I would wager that a very high percentage of people who know of Bill Russell didn't know that he was #6.  There's no need for this.

 

[gosioux76]

27 minutes ago, BBTV said:

 

 

Much like with Jackie, I think if you're going to do something like this, you do it before 5,000 other players have worn the number.  I'm familiar with his resume, but 6 isn't special because of him the same way that 23 is synonymous with Jordan and 99 with Gretzky.  I would wager that a very high percentage of people who know of Bill Russell didn't know that he was #6.  There's no need for this.

 

 

To be fair, it's a very kind and deserving gesture, certainly. But I feel as if this is usually a circumstance where they'd name a trophy after someone rather than retiring their number, and I'm afraid the NBA is all out of relevant trophies to name. 

 

Despite that, I'm OK with it. If nothing else, it forces new generations of fans league-wide — not just in Boston — to ask who Bill Russell was, and his influence was felt well beyond the court. 

 

I can relate to sentiment that, if they were going to do this step, they should have done it while he was alive. But we also don't know the circumstances. I could imagine that being around to see your number retired for an entire league could just be one more fresh reminder that you're nearing the grave.  

[Discogod]

17 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

I can relate to sentiment that, if they were going to do this step, they should have done it while he was alive. But we also don't know the circumstances. I could imagine that being around to see your number retired for an entire league could just be one more fresh reminder that you're nearing the grave.  

 

Considering Bill was against the Celtics retiring his number, and then insisting on it being done behind closed doors after they were intent on it, I'd hazard a guess and say he wouldn't be a fan of this move.

[Lights Out]

17 hours ago, WSU151 said:

 

This is one of those actions where I ask: Why didn't they do this when Bill was still alive? 

 

Maybe he didn't want them to do this while he was still alive.

[WSU151]

4 minutes ago, Lights Out said:

 

Maybe he didn't want them to do this while he was still alive.

 

So they did it after he died, because who cares what he said when he was alive?