2015-16 NBA uniform leaks: New alternates for OKC, Mavs, Nuggets and more?
Several NBA teams have unveiled new uniforms for the upcoming season in recent months, with some — like the Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks — undergoing full-fledged revamps and others — like the Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers — adding spicy new alternate kits to their existing collection of threads. Evidently, though, we’ll be seeing even more new unis during the next NBA campaign … provided, of course, that this collection of 2015-16 Season Identity Updates that began to make its way around the Internet late Wednesday night via Reddit’s NBA community and Andrew Lind of The Tidewater News is the real deal:
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As UniWatch’s Paul Lukas notes, the combination of the style sheet’s inclusion of previously spotted new designs and its format/design/”Confidential” designation suggest that the collection is probably — “Not definitely, but probably” — on the up and up. Let’s operate under the assumption that what we’re seeing here is legit, and briefly discuss some of the new stuff that might be coming to a court near you this fall:
• This is our first full-fledged look at the Toronto Raptors’ new uniforms, designed with input from hip-hop star and team ambassador Drake, which we’ve known were coming since at least December. They seem very similar to mockups provided by Chris Creamer of SportsLogos.net back in May, including what appears to be a black-with-gold-trim alternate that aligns with the Drake/OVO color scheme. It remains unclear if Drake designed that one himself, or employed one or more ghost-designers on the project.
• The new uniform sets for both the Bucks and Clippers appear to feature black alternates with large versions of their new logos centered on the chest. That’s sort of similar to last season’s Christmas uniforms, with the logo occupying a larger, more prominent position. The giant deer head could be cool, if for no other reason than it gives me an excuse to remember “An Insane Idiot and His Collection of Descending-Size Deer Heads.” The giant Clipperball could … well, maybe the less said about that, the better.
• The Dallas Mavericks will finally launch the skyline-centric look that was selected as the winner of their fan-submitted uniform design contest. Mavericks fans bummed out that they won’t see DeAndre Jordan in it can at least take solace in the fact that he’ll have to wear the Clippers’ alternate.
• I’m not entirely sure about what appears to be an all-orange Oklahoma City Thunder alternate, but given the relatively uninspiring nature of both their standard strips and their existing blue-note alternates, a brighter, bolder shake-up could be worth a shot. Thunder fans will have to hope that their favorite squad finds a bit more luck in orange than the New York Knicks did two seasons ago.
• The grey alternates for the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets seem unfortunate, a la the bland business rocked in recent years by the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics. At least the Pistons’ one doesn’t have sleeves, allowing the potential of a “suns out, guns out” unveiling by noted model Stan Van Gundy.
• All of the league’s “Pride” uniforms for 2015-16 will once again feature sleeves. Notable stylistic departures: the Denver Nuggets’ cool pickaxe-logo look; Houston following in the footsteps of the Hornets, Pistons and Trail Blazers with a “Clutch City” wordmark trading on the nickname popularized by the back-to-back title-winning teams of the mid-1990s; the Washington Wizards going with an interesting red-white-and-blue update of the Bullets’ three-stripe wave pattern that seems destined to look either awesome or awful on the court. Less notable: what appears to be a pretty staid grey-scaling of the Chicago Bulls’ existing look; whatever the Sacramento Kings’ blue-with-purple-accents look has going on; the big C on the Cavaliers’ chest.
• The “stretch” looks appear to feature alternate jersey designs that can be worn with existing road shorts, and encapsulate specific league promotions like the “La NBA” Latin nights (for the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat) and Chinese New Year (Wizards, Rockets) events. Next year’s model will also include a wine-colored reboot of the Cavs’ mid-’80s garb and what appears to be an all-black revamp of the alternates that the San Antonio Spurs have been wearing since the fall of 2012.
• The “Hardwood Classics Nights” uniforms — a.k.a. this year’s throwback unis — look pretty awesome. We’re getting the Golden State Warriors’ phenomenal “The City” golden boys, the dope late-’70s gold Cavs unis with the alternate stripes down the sides; the Memphis Grizzlies turning back to the clock to the ABA days with some Memphis Sounds fire; the Mavs cranking back to the ’80s with their green garb; the Bulls flashing back to Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier with the cursive Chicago wordmark on their red roadies (a nice complement to the scripted look of this year’s Christmas unis); the Kings bringing back their beautiful powder-blue look of the late-’80s; the Knicks reaching back to the early ’50s for their home alternates and the Miami Heat returning to their inception for inspiration. (Interestingly enough, the Pacers’ “Hoosiers” gear — identified by the team as a “Pride” uniform — is included here as a throwback, which could indicate a differentiation in how frequently they plan/are allowed to use them, or could just mean the categorization changed between the publication of this sheet and the official unveiling.)
• The Heat’s Hoops for Troops look isn’t camouflage, like the Raptors’ and Spurs’ efforts of years past. It does, however, feature the two-tone jersey/shorts effect that the Hawks and Pacers have instituted in their new threads. Does three mix-and-match uniforms make a trend?
Like any sweeping collection of revisions and updates, this one seems to have some strong, fresh looks and some that might’ve been better left on the drafting board. Let us know which ones you’re eager to see in full, living color in the comments below.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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