Why NBA teams change their logos

[Discogod]

http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/09/nba-team-logo-changes

Kept me occupied for a few minutes, at least. Wish the league would have allowed the Warriors to wear yellow at home, though.

[loogodude90]

Interesting read. He forgot to list the Nets though when mentioning teams that don't have their city/state displayed as part of their identity. Regardless of the fact that they're moving.

[CubsFanBudMan]

As ColorWerx points out on the article, there are some issues with this story, namely the part about the Jazz returning to their original colors and logo. But why let the facts get in the way of a good story? (Surprised the Jazz rep didn't correct him, though.)

[ThePreacher]

http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/09/nba-team-logo-changes

Kept me occupied for a few minutes, at least. Wish the league would have allowed the Warriors to wear yellow at home, though.

From the article: "Like the Lakers further south in Los Angeles, the Warriors wanted to sport yellow jerseys at home on a full-time basis. Not so, said the NBA. ?We weren?t allowed to do that,? Rowell said. ?The Lakers are the only team that?s grandfathered into not having to wear white at home.?"

I thought that fact was quite interesting and cool, especially as a Lakers fan. And I'm glad too, because I hate their stupid Sunday Whites.

[Discogod]

http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/09/nba-team-logo-changes

Kept me occupied for a few minutes, at least. Wish the league would have allowed the Warriors to wear yellow at home, though.

From the article: "Like the Lakers further south in Los Angeles, the Warriors wanted to sport yellow jerseys at home on a full-time basis. Not so, said the NBA. ?We weren?t allowed to do that,? Rowell said. ?The Lakers are the only team that?s grandfathered into not having to wear white at home.?"

I thought that fact was quite interesting and cool, especially as a Lakers fan. And I'm glad too, because I hate their stupid Sunday Whites.

Yeah, that rule came into effect for the '85 season or thereabouts. I blame Stern, although I don't know if he had anything to do with it (probably). So many teams used to wear colours at home too, such a shame.

[ThePreacher]

http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/09/nba-team-logo-changes

Kept me occupied for a few minutes, at least. Wish the league would have allowed the Warriors to wear yellow at home, though.

From the article: "Like the Lakers further south in Los Angeles, the Warriors wanted to sport yellow jerseys at home on a full-time basis. Not so, said the NBA. ?We weren?t allowed to do that,? Rowell said. ?The Lakers are the only team that?s grandfathered into not having to wear white at home.?"

I thought that fact was quite interesting and cool, especially as a Lakers fan. And I'm glad too, because I hate their stupid Sunday Whites.

Yeah, that rule came into effect for the '85 season or thereabouts. I blame Stern, although I don't know if he had anything to do with it (probably). So many teams used to wear colours at home too, such a shame.

Agreed. I personally think the "all white at home" is a lamer phenomenon than BFBS.

[Quillz]

Were the Lakers really the only team to wear colored jerseys at home prior to the 1985 season or w/e the uniform rules came into play?

[Discogod]

Were the Lakers really the only team to wear colored jerseys at home prior to the 1985 season or w/e the uniform rules came into play?

Nope. Warriors had yellow home unis until 1985. The Pacers used yellow homes from 1983-5. The Cavs used yellow from 1970 until 1980, then metallic gold until 1983. The Spurs and Pistons also used grey/silver homes for a couple of seasons. The Sonics also used yellow homes in the late 60s/early 70s.

Nowadays, except for special circumstances, if a team wants to use a coloured uniform at home (no matter what colour), the road team generally has to wear white.

[CitizenTino]

I think it was two seasons ago where the Cavs wore their yellow throwbacks (the ones with the feathered C script wordmark) at home against the Lakers. Since LA's primary home is the same color and they won't wear the Sunday whites on the road, they wore their traditional road purple. One of the rare color-on-color NBA games that wasn't a Lakers home game.

Personally, I've always thought it was stupid to have a road team wearing white if the home team is wearing a yellow alternate. If the idea is to provide contrast, wouldn't a dark jersey do a better job of that than a white one?

[The_Admiral]

Yes, you're absolutely right, white/yellow is stupid. My solution, however, would be to stop making ugly yellow alternates. Only the Lakers look good in yellow.

[eRay]

The one part about the Yellow at home debate that sticks with me is that one team (Lakers) can wear a color at home, while others (Hawks, Hornets, Pacers & Sonics) have to wear that color on the road. That sets up the Yellow vs. Yellow potential match-up. That problem should never come into play. If Yellow (or Light Blue or Gray for that matter) is designated as a home color for one team, it should be for all teams. That way there is no possibility of 2 teams wearing the same colors in one game.

[illwauk]

Were the Lakers really the only team to wear colored jerseys at home prior to the 1985 season or w/e the uniform rules came into play?

Nope. Warriors had yellow home unis until 1985. The Pacers used yellow homes from 1983-5. The Cavs used yellow from 1970 until 1980, then metallic gold until 1983. The Spurs and Pistons also used grey/silver homes for a couple of seasons. The Sonics also used yellow homes in the late 60s/early 70s.

Nowadays, except for special circumstances, if a team wants to use a coloured uniform at home (no matter what colour), the road team generally has to wear white.

The Hawks also once wore these at home:

Interestingly enough, the only images I was able to find of that jersey were from a game against the Lakers where they wore yellow, so here's a pic of Pistol in the Hawks "road dark" from that same era:

Personally, I think the "white at home" (or "dark at home" in the NFL) rule is ridiculous. As long as the colors don't clash, there's no problem and it makes it easier for the individual teams to build a brand around their colors which, at least in theory, works out best for everyone involved.

[jhans203]

Were the Lakers really the only team to wear colored jerseys at home prior to the 1985 season or w/e the uniform rules came into play?

Nope. Warriors had yellow home unis until 1985. The Pacers used yellow homes from 1983-5. The Cavs used yellow from 1970 until 1980, then metallic gold until 1983. The Spurs and Pistons also used grey/silver homes for a couple of seasons. The Sonics also used yellow homes in the late 60s/early 70s.

Nowadays, except for special circumstances, if a team wants to use a coloured uniform at home (no matter what colour), the road team generally has to wear white.

The Hawks also once wore these at home:

Interestingly enough, the only images I was able to find of that jersey were from a game against the Lakers where they wore yellow, so here's a pic of Pistol in the Hawks "road dark" from that same era:

Personally, I think the "white at home" (or "dark at home" in the NFL) rule is ridiculous. As long as the colors don't clash, there's no problem and it makes it easier for the individual teams to build a brand around their colors which, at least in theory, works out best for everyone involved.

The good thing is that we are starting to see a trend where the NBA is letting two teams wear their colored jerseys during a game. The Suns/Spurs did it last year during the playoffs, at least one Christmas game is Green/Red and the All-Star game was Blue/Red. Hopefully it changes.

[loogodude90]

Forcing teams to wear white at home would instill uniform "predictability", something the NBA doesn't have much of IMO. Meaning that you would "know" what each team would be wearing well ahead of time (if you care about that).

But I like the way it is now, where teams have more freedom in doing what they want. As long as teams don't go overboard with it. What sort of irks me is every once in a while there will be a fairly meaningless game where the home team decides to wear their colored jerseys at home and the road team wears white. If there is a reason for that then I'm fine with it, but if it's just "let's wear our primary road jerseys at home for the fun of it" (isn't that what an alternate is for?) then I don't get it.

And except for Lakers home games I guess, I am not a fan at all of colored jersey vs. colored jersey. IMO it makes the court look too cluttered and annoying to watch, it's already so small and has all these huge guys on it. Having one team wear white makes it easier on the eyes IMO.

[Legend]

Nice find, very interesting article.

I went and looked, the Bulls, Spurs, Blazers, and Rockets are the only 4 teams without a logo with a basketball in it.

[Quillz]

Were the Lakers really the only team to wear colored jerseys at home prior to the 1985 season or w/e the uniform rules came into play?

Nope. Warriors had yellow home unis until 1985. The Pacers used yellow homes from 1983-5. The Cavs used yellow from 1970 until 1980, then metallic gold until 1983. The Spurs and Pistons also used grey/silver homes for a couple of seasons. The Sonics also used yellow homes in the late 60s/early 70s.

Nowadays, except for special circumstances, if a team wants to use a coloured uniform at home (no matter what colour), the road team generally has to wear white.

If the Warriors were wearing colored home jerseys in 1985, just prior to the rule requiring the home team wears white, then why weren't the Warriors also grandfathered around the rule, the like the Lakers were?

[Discogod]

The Hawks also once wore these at home:

Interestingly enough, the only images I was able to find of that jersey were from a game against the Lakers where they wore yellow, so here's a pic of Pistol in the Hawks "road dark" from that same era:

Are you sure about that? AFAIK, the green uni was worn as a road alternate - the only time that the green uni was worn as the "home" set was during a couple of neutral-site games.

If the Warriors were wearing colored home jerseys in 1985, just prior to the rule requiring the home team wears white, then why weren't the Warriors also grandfathered around the rule, the like the Lakers were?

I don't know. The Pacers also had yellow homes when the rules came into effect, although since they got new unis the year the rules were introduced it could be that they were dropping the yellow homes anyway.

The Warriors had worn yellow at home since the late 60's - I think their first yellow set was introduced at the same time as the Lakers. Could be that since the Lakers were seen as the league's marquee team they were given special dispensation.

[drknox5]

Were the Lakers really the only team to wear colored jerseys at home prior to the 1985 season or w/e the uniform rules came into play?

Nope. Warriors had yellow home unis until 1985. The Pacers used yellow homes from 1983-5. The Cavs used yellow from 1970 until 1980, then metallic gold until 1983. The Spurs and Pistons also used grey/silver homes for a couple of seasons. The Sonics also used yellow homes in the late 60s/early 70s.

Nowadays, except for special circumstances, if a team wants to use a coloured uniform at home (no matter what colour), the road team generally has to wear white.

The Hawks also once wore these at home:

Interestingly enough, the only images I was able to find of that jersey were from a game against the Lakers where they wore yellow, so here's a pic of Pistol in the Hawks "road dark" from that same era:

Personally, I think the "white at home" (or "dark at home" in the NFL) rule is ridiculous. As long as the colors don't clash, there's no problem and it makes it easier for the individual teams to build a brand around their colors which, at least in theory, works out best for everyone involved.

These are the home uniforms from that era

http://sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=7gt02hf92ef5qtctt827kmvfd

[loogodude90]

If the Warriors were wearing colored home jerseys in 1985, just prior to the rule requiring the home team wears white, then why weren't the Warriors also grandfathered around the rule, the like the Lakers were?

I don't know. The Pacers also had yellow homes when the rules came into effect, although since they got new unis the year the rules were introduced it could be that they were dropping the yellow homes anyway.

The Warriors had worn yellow at home since the late 60's - I think their first yellow set was introduced at the same time as the Lakers. Could be that since the Lakers were seen as the league's marquee team they were given special dispensation.

Yeah, the only thing I can think of is that either 1) The Lakers technically had the yellow-at-home the longest (do we have any proof to dispute this?), so they were given a pass, 2) They paid some type of fine in order to be allowed to continue doing it, or 3) Any team that had colored home unis at the time of the change (Pacers, Warriors, etc.) just coincidentally stated that they decided to change to white unis at the time of the rule change.

If they were just given a pass because "they're The Lakers" then I think that's kind of dumb, but it also wouldn't surprise me.

[Discogod]

Lakers introduced yellow home unis for the 1965-66 season. Warriors had yellow home unis for the 1964-65 season (possibly earlier, but all the colour pictures I've found date from 1964-65), although they'd worn yellow road unis since moving from Philadelphia.

So the Warriors had been wearing yellow at home for at least a year before the Lakers.