The uniforms for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Feb. 18 in Indianapolis, haven’t yet been officially unveiled. But the jerseys were leaked yesterday by Twitter-er @brandon1an (the same guy who leaked all 30 City Edition designs back in October), and several sources tell me that they’re legit, so let’s take a look:
Although we haven’t yet seen the shorts, these uniforms appear to be a lot more conventional than last year’s. Here are some quick thoughts:
- The designs are pleasant enough (no small thing in today’s NBA), but it seems like they could use an additional accent color, at least on the chest logo, no?
- The pinstripes, obviously, are a nod to the uni history of the host team, the Pacers. Ditto for the horizontal striping on the chest logo.
- The NBA announced back in October that the All-Star Game would be reverting to the old East vs. West format, but this design must have been finalized before that decision was made, because there are no conference designations. (The league also wants the players to actually hustle and play defense this year instead of just having a feel-good showboat showcase, but good luck with that.)
- Fun fact: Nike maker’s mark has never appeared on an NBA All-Star uniform. They’ve always gone with the Jordan mark since they took over as the league’s outfitter in 2017.
- Every NBA All-Star Game since 2016 has had an advertisement for a car company on the jerseys, so that will presumably be the case again this year, even though it’s not shown in those retail mock-ups.
- Another long-running All-Star trope is putting the NOB below the number. Not really sure what the thinking is there, but they seem wedded to it.
- One of my Twitter followers came up with a totally brilliant connection:
The NBA All-Star unis for this year as leaked by @brandon1an reminded me of the Hockey uniform Michael Scott — Scarn was wearing on Threat Level Midnight, @UniWatch. pic.twitter.com/A3TlJpWkWm
— Coco (@marcomanipon) January 12, 2024
The NBA’s All-Star weekend features a bunch of other games, including the G League Up Next Game, the Rising Stars Challenge, and the All-Star Celebrity Game. The uniforms for those games will presumably be released as part of the official All-Star uniform unveiling. (There are also the dunk, three-point, and skills competitions, but players usually just wear their regular team uniforms for those.)
Meanwhile: The NHL All-Star Game is on Feb. 3 — that’s three weeks from tomorrow — so those uniforms are due to be unveiled (or leaked, or whatever) any day now.
I don’t hate them as much as other All-Star unis in the past. I guess that’s a step in the right direction.
I really like these. I just wish the jerseys said something other than “All Star” to identify them, but then again the front might be too cluttered. Maybe a monochrome team logo instead of the star?
Agreed, I like the monochrome logos when they’ve done them before. I like these a lot, and a slight improvement in my opinion would be to color the inner star dark blue on the dark red jersey, and vice versa for a tiny amount of color contrast.
I actually prefer the name beneath the number on a basketball uniform due to the normal lack of sleeves, so I am OK with this. On the front if they went West/East above and All Star below the logo in the same minimalist font, it would look pretty good.
As a former Kansas City Kings fan, I’m in favor of NOB Under Number.
Haven’t said this about any All Star jersey in a while: I’d wear that.
The Grizzlies switched to the name-under-number format with their new set a few years ago…I wasn’t a fan at first, but I’ve warmed up to it.
I can live with these All-Star unis! Actually a breath of fresh air after some of the ones that have been used lately. Never really noticed the Jumpman logo instead of the Nike logo until you mentioned it.
Love the video. I always yell “GET A ROOM!!!!” when our cats start licking on each other. They will stop for a second and give me a dirty look. Then go right back at it. LOL For some reason, it’s always our female giving our male a bath. He doesn’t return the favor.
“along with my recommendations on what each team should so with their throwbacks”
Edit: “do with their throwbacks”
– One word describes those 70s Cavs unis: Groovy.
Thanks. Fixed.
“Every NBA All-Star Game since 2016 has had an advertisement for a car company on the jerseys”
It’s less words to just say “a Kia ad”.
Actually, it’s *fewer* words.
And I prefer not to name the advertiser.
Haaaa! I love correcting the grammar from “less” to “fewer.” The misuse of “less” always annoys me (e.g., the supermarket check-out sign that says, “12 items or less”). That’s an old pro move, Paul.
How about “a car ad” then?
My point was that the insistence on not saying a company’s name is pretty tiresome.
They’re not paying me (nor Paul) to say their name. I’m not giving them free publicity.
Ads on uniforms are what’s tiresome.
I kind of think the all-star game is the opportunity to be bolder and have a crazy design that inevitably ages poorly.
Ha! I like your rational advocacy for something irrational.
The motion lines in the star are fighting the Jerry West silhouette. He is clearly moving from right to left, but the motion lines indicate the opposite. If you take his direction as right to left, it looks like the motion lines are actually a point of resistance or a wall he is leaning against. That bugs me.
COTD. Great design analysis there!
Thanks! It took me a second to realize why the graphic didn’t feel right to me. Looks like a case of someone getting so locked in on the concept of mimicking a Pacers uni element that they couldn’t see the bigger implications.
Maybe that’s a subtle encouragement to the players to play defense?
:)
Feels a bit too muted with the darker colors and the… is that… vin… tage… white… ugh!
feels like there isn’t enough contrast
I thought the same thing, that with both uniforms having the exact same design and both having a darker muted shade of color, that there isn’t much contrast.
Reminds me of the 2002 NHL All-Star Game, actually (aside from the off-white), now that I think about it: link
Absolutely! They used the most drab shades of red, blue (and white) imaginable.
I really like these; the design, the color, everything. 8/10.
Thank goodness Carol, Ina, and Pride have hats. We’d never know which one is which without them.
As I clicked I thought, “why do I punish myself like this?” But, to my surprise, they aren’t terrible. Love the Michael Scarn callout too.
I like the past tradition of All Star uniforms being associated with the host team, including the colors. I would have liked a blue and a yellow uniform.
2021’s uniforms were Pacer themed but the game was played in Atlanta due to COVID
link
“Straight away, the All-Star font in the center bears some resemblance to the old Indiana Pacers logo, which makes sense because the game was originally set in Indianapolis. The blue and yellow color scheme is also a callback to the Midwest team.”
ah, dark red against navy blue jerseys. a wonderful game to watch for us colorblind folks.
Fun Fact: the All Stars jersey that Michael Scott wears in “Threat Level Midnight” is the New York Rangers’ Lady Liberty jersey, just with all the Rangers logos removed.
Wow! That is a fun fact.
Duplicate jersey numbers on All Star Teams really annoy me. It would be fun to go back to players having to pick a new number if their number isn’t available. Two number 7’s on the East? Well the guy who got the most votes gets to wear 7, and the other guy needs a new number. I believe the NHL used to do this, because I distinctly remember Joe Thornton wearing 91 in an All Star Game when his usual number was 19.
Interesting Reddit thread that addresses this very thing: link
I can’t stand name under number