NBA Uniform Changes 2008-09

[J23P]

anyone have a pic of this script?

[SmoothieX]

I don't want to see a total rebranding for Portland because they've had those unis with the stripes for what seems like forever. I do wish they'd clean up their fonts a little. The names are hard to read.

Charlotte is really a mess, but I'd prefer orange over yet another team with navy blue.

Toronto in black I'm not a fan of. Those half purple half black things they wore for a few years were scary. I don't think all black would be much better.

Cleveland - I wish they'd do something with their blue alt. I hate it. I love the red jerseys but they seem to wear the alts as much as the primaries. The alternating colors along the trim looks like a train wreck.

Washington - Someone needs to set fire to those two toned alts they have. Ditto for Sacramento.

Knicks - I don't know what they could do. They have too bright of an orange to do an alt with. It's this bright cheez doodle orange that would look pretty garish. Though the U of Tennesee pulls it off ok, so I'd have to see it first.

[Delux247]

First of all, I'm a big proponent of alternates for everyone.

Should overhaul image:

- Golden St.

- LA Clippers, I was thinking Colorado Rapids colors (maroon & columbia - ish colors)

- Miami

- Minnesota

- New York

- Phoenix, the silver-purple combo is executed hideously

Should add an alternate:

- Atlanta, when 2009 comes around, should go with a red one with the same template except "ATL" on the chest

- Houston, a silver would make the most sense, but a black would look better

- Memphis, a gold because Utah used the light blue and Denver used the dark blue

- Milwaukee, a maroon one with a different template

- Orlando, they need a black one, preferably of the same template

- San Antonio, silver is the only other option. Unless, of course, they want to bring back pink & teal

- Toronto, a black with the same template; they need to drop the old primary logo for something more consistent with their current identity too.

Should tweak:

- Charlotte's front script looked a lot better on these tacky NASCAR jerseys and should switch all jerseys to it

I may be in the minority that likes the original templates better than the alternate, but I do like the color scheme on the alternate

- Philadelphia, they've got to streamline their alternates with their regulars. I don't like that inconsistency

- Sacramento, those golds have got to be replaced by a black alternate; although I do like a different template than the regulars for the Kings

Sitting pretty:

- Boston (alternate is different template than regulars)

- Chicago

- Cleveland (alternate is only slightly different template than regulars)

- Dallas (alternate is different template than regulars)

- Denver

- Detroit

- Indiana

- LA Lakers

- New Jersey

- New Orleans

- Portland

- Seattle

- Utah (alternate is different template than regulars)

- Washington (alternate is different template than regulars)

[WSU151]

First of all, I'm a big proponent of alternates for everyone.

Should overhaul image:

- Miami

Why should the Heat change their image? How would you improve them? I think they have one of the top five sets in the league.

[mmejia]

If the Rockets did anything, I would like to see them add a grey alt (ohio state-ish) and replace the shiny fabric with a flatter fabric.

[Jer15]

To be honest (and it's probably not going to be liked by most) I'd like to see the raps come out with a purple alternate.

Not half black half purple like they used to have, that was just weird. But their primary logo is mostly purple, so why not?

[ShinyHubCaps]

I heard that the Bucks might hold off of the alternate jersey. Lots of teams, most notably the Orlando Magic, have not done alternates the third year after a uniform change. The Bucks actually had an alternate green jersey in the chute before they decided to change colors:

(Bad picture; I know PANTONE has a better one.)

Anyway, I think that if they sit on their decision for a while, it will give me time to propose the concept I'm working on: something like that jersey, but silver. (If you watch FSN Final Score, the overlay they have for the Bucks is actually on a silver background, as opposed to most teams which use their primary or secondary color; it looks good, in my opinion. That's what I would like to see in an alternate.)

[jhans203]

I think the NBA should allow alternate colors at home like in the case of the Lakers. Colors like silver, gold and orange should be allowed at home. Just as long as there is a contrast there should be more flexibility. I would like to see the Spurs and Magic to wear silver both at home and on the road, Golden State, New Orleans, Seattle, and Indiana wear gold at home once in a while, and Phoenix and Charlotte wear orange at home. The Lakers should use their gold homes as road alternates as well.

[Gothamite]

I heard that the Bucks might hold off of the alternate jersey. Lots of teams, most notably the Orlando Magic, have not done alternates the third year after a uniform change. The Bucks actually had an alternate green jersey in the chute before they decided to change colors:

(Bad picture; I know PANTONE has a better one.)

Anyway, I think that if they sit on their decision for a while, it will give me time to propose the concept I'm working on: something like that jersey, but silver. (If you watch FSN Final Score, the overlay they have for the Bucks is actually on a silver background, as opposed to most teams which use their primary or secondary color; it looks good, in my opinion. That's what I would like to see in an alternate.)

FWIW, that alt was scrapped years before they decided to change colors. Don't know why they pulled the plug.

I love that "Milwaukee" script - how often does a wordmark jump from one sport to another?

Silver would be an interesting choice. Shimmery silver didn't work for the Mavs:

but perhaps you could make something work for the Bucks. Anything's better than a red alt.

[TruColor]

Knicks - I don't know what they could do. They have too bright of an orange to do an alt with. It's this bright cheez doodle orange that would look pretty garish.

I don't know - it works for the Orioles, Bobcats, Bears, Bengals, Broncos, Dolphins, Islanders, and Mets OK.

(It's the same Orange fabric color!)

[ShinyHubCaps]

Knicks - I don't know what they could do. They have too bright of an orange to do an alt with. It's this bright cheez doodle orange that would look pretty garish.

I don't know - it works for the Orioles, Bobcats, Bears, Bengals, Broncos, Dolphins, Islanders, and Mets OK.

(It's the same Orange fabric color!)

Well, it works to make threads, but with varying degrees of success. Not many people like the Orioles alt. or the Bears alt., especially with the white pants. I forgot the Dolphins even had it.

So the idea that it "works" is relative -- from a production standpoint, it works, but some people are repulsed by it.

For what it's worth, here is the breakdown of NBA Alternates:

(2) = The team has two colors (non-white), and the alternate is the color opposite their primary.

(3+) = The team has multiple colors (three or more, non-white), and the alternate is a color not the same as their primary.

* = The color was added to the set for the sake of the alternate; not previously used.

(W) = The alternate is white, and the primary home is a separate color.

.S = The alternate is the same color as one of the primary uniforms with some variation.

(NONE) = The team does not have an alternate jersey.

(2) - 9 (Chicago, Detroit, Indiana, Charlotte, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Utah, Seattle, Portland)

(3+) - 8 (Cleveland, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami, Washington, New Orleans, Golden State, Minnesota)

* - 3 (Dallas, Sacramento, Denver)

(W) - 1 (Los Angeles)

.S - 1 (Boston)

(NONE) - 8 (Milwaukee, Toronto, New York, Atlanta, Orlando, San Antonio, Houston, Memphis)

Some of the (2) vs. (3+) was a judgment call on how many colors I would consider to be in their set. At any rate, there are 17 "traditional alternates," although Washington could be considered for the * -- I can't remember if gold was in their set at the time they added the alternate.

[tohasbo]

i absolutely HATE the Bobcats' script on their jerseys, looks horrible.

I actually like their new script, the one that will become full time next season. I think they wore it on a uniform once this season

Any New York Knicks rumors, beside praying for Isiah and Marbury's exile? Im still waiting on my black or orange alternates.

Wait longer...it'll NEVER happen. The Knicks have been saying for the past 5 years or so that they would be bringing out a black or orange alt. It has yet to happen. There was an orange Knicks FASHION jersey a while back, though.

[tohasbo]

I heard that the Bucks might hold off of the alternate jersey. Lots of teams, most notably the Orlando Magic, have not done alternates the third year after a uniform change. The Bucks actually had an alternate green jersey in the chute before they decided to change colors:

(Bad picture; I know PANTONE has a better one.)

Anyway, I think that if they sit on their decision for a while, it will give me time to propose the concept I'm working on: something like that jersey, but silver. (If you watch FSN Final Score, the overlay they have for the Bucks is actually on a silver background, as opposed to most teams which use their primary or secondary color; it looks good, in my opinion. That's what I would like to see in an alternate.)

yeah he does...

Go through post history and you'll find it there. You may have to do an extensive search cause it is probably buried waaaaayyyyy back, like late 2005 or early 2006...

[batman1211]

- Atlanta, when 2009 comes around, should go with a red one with the same template except "ATL" on the chest

I hate when teams use ATL, PHX, MIA, or any other wacky abbreviation for their city names. They are a sports team, not an airport. If they can't afford the additional cost to spell out the whole word, then leave it off. IMO, it looks like total CRAP!!!! I would rather turn the channel rather than watch a team wear such crappy, piss poor lettering across their chest. I don;t know what moron ever thought that would be a good idea, but I wish that it would be a trend that would die a horrible death and NEVER be resurrected. I am taking your quote as an example, not out of disrespect to your opinion. This is just my opinion.

[eRay]

- Atlanta, when 2009 comes around, should go with a red one with the same template except "ATL" on the chest

I hate when teams use ATL, PHX, MIA, or any other wacky abbreviation for their city names. They are a sports team, not an airport. If they can't afford the additional cost to spell out the whole word, then leave it off. IMO, it looks like total CRAP!!!! I would rather turn the channel rather than watch a team wear such crappy, piss poor lettering across their chest. I don;t know what moron ever thought that would be a good idea, but I wish that it would be a trend that would die a horrible death and NEVER be resurrected. I am taking your quote as an example, not out of disrespect to your opinion. This is just my opinion.

my opinion is that both of you are right, in a way. i think the hawks have been set up to make that ATL red alt since they got this new identity, as it was in their set, but only used on the @ss of the shorts. but that doesn't mean its a good idea. i personally have no problem with it, mostly because only the cities that it works for have been using it. true, it will not stand the test of time, but most NBA teams aren't gunning for that anyway(jersey sales!!). it would really bother me if teams that it didn't make sense for started using it just because it was "cool". ATL and PHX work great to abbreviate the city name, but not make it hard to understand. I would hate to see POR, SAC, DEN, TOR, MIN, etc. because those just don't seem to automatically refer to a city. whatever, my 1/50th of a dollar.

[TruColor]

Since there always seems to be some confusion over the current colors, I thought I'd generate the current color sets for all NBA teams (for 2007-2008 only). There are two PDF documents here - both for what I call the "Franchise Colors", and the "Alternate Uniform Colors". The "Alternate Uniform Colors" represent alt. uni sets that contain additional or different colors in them.

NBA Franchise Colors (2007-2008)

NBA Alternate Uniform Colors (2007-2008)

(I'm having some issues with the PDF print quality...the boxes and lines in these look a little bit distorted.)

[VandyDelphia Mike]

Should tweak:

- Philadelphia, they've got to streamline their alternates with their regulars. I don't like that inconsistency

Has already happened this season. Unless you want the blotches of contrasting color on the red to also appear on the black and white versions ...

I love that "Milwaukee" script - how often does a wordmark jump from one sport to another?

Mid '80s Bulls, to current White Sox. Go figure ... same part of the country, and same two sports involved (MLB & NBA).

[ShinyHubCaps]

(Bad picture; I know PANTONE has a better one.)

yeah he does...

Go through post history and you'll find it there. You may have to do an extensive search cause it is probably buried waaaaayyyyy back, like late 2005 or early 2006...

I think this is the same one PANTONE had from the style guide. Here it is:

[TheOldRoman]

First of all, I'm a big proponent of alternates for everyone.

Should overhaul image:

- Miami

Why should the Heat change their image? How would you improve them? I think they have one of the top five sets in the league.

There is nothing wrong with the logo, but the uniforms are terrible. The template sucks, number font is awful and looks really bad the way it is italicized, and the material they use sucks, especially on the red jerseys. After two minutes of game time, those jerseys are maroon from the players sweat. It is ridiculous that they can't find a better fabric that doesn't change colors so drastically when players sweat.

[TheOldRoman]

Mid '80s Bulls, to current White Sox. Go figure ... same part of the country, and same two sports involved (MLB & NBA).

Those are not the same font. They are similar, but the Bulls one is much thinner and raised more to the right.