IN line with its celebration of its 75th anniversary, the National Basketball Association (NBA) unveiled its 2021-22 Nike NBA City Edition uniforms.
Done in collaboration with Nike, the uniforms will be available for sale beginning Nov. 15 at NBAStore.com, Nike.com and select retailers globally.
This season being a milestone year, the NBA and Nike made sure that each uniform highlights the franchises’ greatest hits through the years in every design while throwing in many subtle touches that underscore pivotal moments from each team’s history.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ uniform, for one, has the shorts incorporating the baby blue from the original championship team in Minneapolis while the primary head-to-toe color is the Lakers purple that emerged in the late ’60s. The belt buckle, meanwhile, includes the “L” logo from the three-peat era of the 2000s.
Brooklyn’s, for its part, marks the team’s path from New York to New Jersey and back again. The argyle side panel is a tribute to the repeat Eastern Conference championships from the ’01-’02 and ’02-’03 seasons. The patch on the shorts is a throwback to the ’80s, while the red, white and blue color blocking reaches back to the franchise’s American Basketball Association (ABA) roots. On top of the navy body color, the black space is said to symbolize a team on the rise, poised to leave a new mark on the league.
For defending champion Milwaukee, meanwhile, the uniform features green and Lake Michigan blue from the team’s current uniform sets, side panel blocking from 2001, the neckline from the 2010s, and the number set worn by the team during its second championship in 2021. A remixed waistband logo from 1971 is a callback to skyhooks and triple-double averages.
“The moments included in the Nike NBA City Edition uniforms span across decades and remind fans, old and new, of some of their fondest memories of their favorite teams,” said Christopher Arena, Head of On-Court and Brand Partnerships at the NBA in a statement. “The NBA’s 75th Anniversary season gave us a unique opportunity to work alongside the teams and Nike to bring the league’s rich history to life, showcasing each team’s fandom in a truly special way.”
Apart of the City Edition uniforms, the NBA also released the NBA Diamond Album, which tells the history of the league and each team, showcasing the NBA uniform behind every iconic NBA moment. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
