Only two years after leaning into yellow and black uniforms, the Utah Jazz are returning to the purple mountain theme that was popular with the team and fans from their past.
The team is billing this as a rebrand, although it might more appropriately be described as a redesign. But no matter how it’s described, it’s a new look for the club, and they’re planning on fully phasing it in over two seasons. We’ll start with the hype video.
The most courts per capita in the nation ✔️
The largest youth program in the league ✔️
85% of the population near the mountains ✔️Utah is Mountain Basketball 🏔️🏀#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/awR1WsUee0
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) June 5, 2024
For the 2024-25 season the Utah Jazz will transition to two new uniforms, while their current “Association” and “Statement” edition uniforms will remain. Their 2024-25 uniform lineup will look like this. The two uniforms on the right (“Statement” and “City”) are new. The new statement uniform debuts in January 2025, and will replace the Jazz’s current black and yellow statement edition jersey which will be used through December.
The new Statement edition, like the current one it will be replacing, is black. The jersey will feature a two-color collar, with purple and light blue. Small side panels will have a purple gradient fading to light blue stripes. The front of the jersey has a gray and white sublimated mountain graphic, with a Jazz note logo and number. Shorts have a similar pattern with a blue stripe atop a gradient purple on the sides.
The new City edition is purple, with a similar template as the new Statement uniform. The collar has a thin light blue stripe. The jersey features a sublimated light blue and purple gradient mountain graphic, and a “UTAH” wordmark with jersey number atop the graphic. Small light blue stripes are on the sides of the jersey. Pants will be identical to the new Statement uniform, except in purple instead of black.
Beginning with the 2025-26 season, the Jazz will introduce three new uniforms to their rotation, including a not-yet-unveiled “City” edition. Here’s look at that lineup:
2025-26 will see the introduction of new Association and Icon Edition uniforms (shown on the left above). The black Statement Edition introduced in January 2025 will remain, and a new City Edition uniform will be introduced at a later date.
The Association (white) uniform will have the same “UTAH” wordmark as the new Statement uniform. The jersey will have purple and light blue striping on the collar and arm openings, with a mountain graphic with cascading stripes running from blue at the top with dark to light purple stripes at the bottom (this design was also seen on the 2023-24 City uniform). The UTAH wordmark is white and gray, with a mountaintop pattern. Shorts will have a thin light blue/thick purple waistband, with the right leg replicating the cascading stripe pattern from the jersey, while the left leg will have a light blue and purple stripe at the hem.
The Icon (purple) uniform follows the same template as the white. It swaps black for purple stripes on the collar and arms, and has an inverse cascading stripe pattern (from white to dark purple) beneath the UTAH wordmark. The purple pants follow the same template as the white.
All new jerseys have “UTAH JAZZ” with the basketball note logo in between on the jersey hem. The official names of the team’s new colors are Mountain Purple, Midnight Black and Sky Blue. The colors are a harkback to the John Stockton/Karl Malone-era jerseys worn from 1996 to 2004.
The iconic “J-Note” logo will remain the same. The Utah wordmark, featured on the 2023-24 City edition, will be used for the new uniforms.
I may be one of the few who actually liked the Jazz’ black and yellow uniforms, but that’s because I think they are great colors and aren’t overthought (you may call them “boring” or “simple”). But they also represented a pretty radical departure from the Jazz’ brand, and so the blowback, and calls for a return to purple were loud. I won’t miss the black and yellow, but maybe some other team can pick up that mantle.
As far as the new uniforms, I like them just fine. The obvious harkback to the Stockton-Malone years will resonate with fans, and the Jazz will once again look like The Jazz. I’m not a fan of sublimation, but the NBA has been doing that for decades. I wish the team didn’t have a black alternate, but that horse left the barn years ago, and they have had black in their palette going back to the late 1990s. My biggest complaint, though, is that none of the new jerseys actually says “JAZZ” — yes, the NBA doesn’t have any designated “home” or “road” uniforms anymore, but you’d think at least one of the new uniforms would have the team name. Sure, the J-note is probably instantly recognizable, but since “Jazz” — like “Utah” — are both four letters, it would seem an easy design choice for at least one of the editions.
I asked Weekend Editor Jim Vilk if he had any thoughts, and here’s what he said:
“For the 2025 unis, white letters on a white jersey and dark letters on a dark jersey usually are a deal breaker for me. Not so this time. The mountains in the background provide enough contrast…or are those mountains actually sound waves from a recording of a jazz song?
“Hmmmm…
“The black jersey is solid. I like the mountains better on that one. In fact, I kind of wish they would have gone with black mountains on a gray jersey. My only real quibble is that the numbers could have been moved down a tad and made bigger. Other than that, nice job. I’d give it either a B+ or maybe an A-.”
Thanks, Jimmer. I wasn’t planning on giving these a “letter grade,” but I think you’re spot on with yours.
Readers? Your thoughts?
I’d also be particularly interested in hearing the thoughts of any Jazz fans or local residents, so if that’s you, please let us know in the comments below!
One of those purples should have been a “Jazz” script
I agree these uniforms are rather redundant, especially both purple versions. If Jazz is your brand nickname use it, or just change your identity and name to Utah Basketball let’s say.
I’m probably one of the few Jazz fans that isn’t a huge fan of the mountain motif on the chest—it just doesn’t work for me on a basketball jersey, and I’m just resigned to the fact that the black is here to stay. I’m a much bigger fan of just using the J-note and the J-note Jazz wordmark, but the 90’s are back on trend so the mountain jerseys it is. As long as they don’t go back to the neon or the Deron Williams-era look, I can live with these as a fan.
Also, it’s weird that the Jazz are going from having one of the most minimalist uniform sets to now having one of the busiest.
That they have light blue as a complimentary color almost certainly entails a light blue city edition. I’m in the minority that thought the Deron Williams era unis were pretty slick.
Ok, riddle me this: how can you have a “City” edition of a uniform…that only has the STATE name on it? Seriously? No “SLC”? No Crossroads of the West type imagery you could play with?
This doesn’t justify it, but I know off the top of my head that the Raptors have had multiple City Connect jerseys that simply say “North”.
They’re better than the current set and they look more Jazz-y, but the fact they’re changing the set so often (two rebrands in less than five years) proves that they’re following trends instead of coming up with a well-thought identity and stick by it. I feel the team is just throwing things to the wall and see what sticks.
Will they change the color of the “J” logo to purple? It seems purple will be the main color.
It is changing to purple.
I know, I know; not going to happen after 45 years, but if they are going back to the “mountain” visual theme and only having the J-note on ONE jersey, could they finally drop the incongruous “Jazz” nickname? We’d love to have it back.
Signed, everyone in the metro New Orleans region
100%.
Putting only “UTAH” on the uniforms and not having it say “Jazz” is nice, since they never should have been called “Jazz” in the first place (after the moved).
1 million bonus points to the first team that stole an identity from someplace else decades ago that does what they should have done originally, respects both their current city and their old one, and comes up with a locally-relevant name unique to where they play now. Looking at you, Colts, Lakers, Dodgers, Giants, Grizzlies, etc.
New Orleans Hornets?
Your thesis is “teams should always create a brand new name and identity when they move from one city to another”? Ok that’s a take.
I agree with that thesis: Teams should generally have locally relevant names. So if a team with a locally relevant name relocates far away, that team should adopt a new, locally relevant name. Names like LA Lakers or Utah Jazz are dumb names, as dumb as would be the Atlanta Yankees or the Memphis Phillies. A team can be a bear or a tiger or a color of sock anywhere, but locally relevant nicknames should be locally relevant.
I feel like the “Colts” name is relevant pretty much anywhere, at least in the US. Where are there no horses?
The Baltimore Colts were so named because of the long history of horse racing in that city. There is racing in Indianapolis but of another kind. Hence the Indiana Pacers. Colts should have been re-named.
I understand your argument, but there’s no reason why the name couldn’t be made referential to something different that’s locally relevant to the new location. Horse racing may not be as big in Indianapolis, but I’m sure there are other horse-related things going on there.
Take the Atlanta/Calgary Flames for example. The name was originally a reference to Atlanta being burned down in the Civil War (not something you’d think the locals would be proud of, but that’s a side topic for another time). When the team moved to Calgary, they kept the name and changed the reference to the flames produced by the oil refineries in that area. I don’t think anyone would say the team needed to change its name because Sherman didn’t burn Calgary.
I tend to disagree about “Colts,” in that for Baltimore the name was a highly locally specific reference to horse racing and breeding. It’d also be great for a team in Kentucky or the DC exurbs of Northern Virginia, but not many other places. Almost every place with “horse country” is low-population and highly rural, so not a suitable home for a high-level pro team. Baltimore was kind of unique in that regard. Horses aren’t really all that common in America as a culturally defining phenomenon. However, the auto racing culture in Indy, and the fact that automobiles use horsepower as a defining attribute makes the name work for me in Indianapolis.
Agree 1000%. Utah needs to finally select an appropriate nickname and return “Jazz” to its rightful home: New Orleans. This travesty should have been addressed years ago.
They’ve been the Utah Jazz at this point for almost 50 years. The name is iconic, and I don’t think they should change it because whiners on the internet complain Utah isn’t known for its Jazz scene. Memphis doesn’t have grizzly bears, LA doesn’t have lakes, hell Detroit doesn’t have lions and Cincinnati doesn’t have bengals. Just let a cool funny name be a cool funny name.
Athletics?
Amen. I like the Pelicans name and the regular uniforms have generally been decent (not so much the “City” ones).
But I still think Pelicans is better for a Southern League team to be named later. Let South Louisiana get the Jazz name and the classic purple, green, & Gold back. Alas, I’m shouting into the void.
The copper really tied the 90s colors together imo and it’s sorely missed in this set
For me (not a Jazz fan) the perfect uniform and logo was the redesign around 2010. Navy, green, and yellow just work together really well. Having said that, I would understand the fans’ love for purple, so why not just drop the navy and substitute purple? Is there a reason those uniforms were dropped? Did fans not like those? Or was it new ownership trying to make their mark?
I loved the 2010’s look. From the rumors I heard, yes, most of the recent rebranding was an effort by new ownership to make their mark.
Sorry, Americans have been brainwashed into equating the Rocky Mountains with Colorado, and as such looks like a purple version of the Rockies City Connect. Utah has very little iconography after bees on skis.
To be fair, the Rockies do reach their highest extent in Colorado, and a much greater percentage of their area is in Colorado vs. Utah. So it’s not a ridiculous association to make.
Actually, why are they still called the Jazz? A top ten all time misnomer.
This is the real problem… they can’t decide whether their aesthetic should be Jazz or Utah. Change the name already.
Reminds me of the narration about team relocations in BASEketball:
“The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don’t allow music.”
You think Utah doesn’t allow music? What were those sounds in the background of the hype video then?
It’s a joke from the guys who created “South Park” (and the Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon”) about the perceived stuffiness of Mormons. Probably distasteful, but it’s par for the course for those guys.
Perfect update, but wish it was all ready to go for the start of next season. Reminds me of European soccer clubs that will launch next season’s kit at the end of the previous season.
I love the new uniform set, but man, with the new hockey team coming in and remaining nameless for the first season, it feels like this organization missed the perfect opportunity to finally change its name.
Are we headed back to 90s maximalism? Because this seems like how it starts.
I prefer a happy medium, but I’ll take maximalism over minimalism.
So… there seems to be something missing from the 2024-25 set… namely, the “Icon” uniforms. Not that I want to see those yellow unis again, and if they’re just not having those next year, that’s fine by me.
I like them, but so much black and purple just makes me think of the Kings
So they’re mothballing the current purple design for a single year, introducing a new purple design to be worn for a single season, then bringing back last season’s purple design and mothballing this season’s when they’re introduce yet another uniform whose color is TBD.
Man, you wanna talk about screwing up a rebrand? Sheesh.
If they insist on keeping the Jazz nickname, these were beautiful and should not have been abandoned so quickly.
The purple mountains look like a silly 90’s fauxback. And black and purple screams Sacramento Kings.
Why do those kids’ jerseys have a mark other than Nike’s?
Also, in the interest of giving feedback – not a fan of calling basketball shorts “pants”.
That caught my eye too. Looks like the delta airlines logo, which sponsors their arena but I’ve never seen that before on other jerseys
I don’t hate it, but this is like their what, 5th uniform update in the last decade? It’s one thing to change up your alternate jerseys every year, but changing up the main designs constantly means that nothing in particular sticks with you as a fan. Whenever I flip on a basketball game, there are some teams where I always know who they and others where I have to double check and the Jazz are one of the latter.
That’s the worst part of NBA aesthetics nowadays. When I flip on a random game, sometimes I don’t know who’s playing until I look at the score bug. There’s no identity anymore
So the 25-26 purple uni (top photo, far right) is the same as the 23-24 purple uni, but introduces baby blue as a color where white is currently used.
All in all, despite the horrendous rollout, this is a pretty solid set. The colors contrast well and I really love how the mountain motif in incorporated, especially on the shorts. I also wish teams would quit it with all the the black for black’s sake.
Yeah, it’s all pretty confusing, especially trying to refer to them in Nike-speak (icon, association, city, etc.) – just give me the color names!
And why did they ditch the “red rock” (or whatever it was called) black gradient unis they had a few years ago? I thought everyone loved those!
Jazz fan here (from before the original switch to “purple mountains majesty”).
I wasn’t a huge fan then (1996)…and I’m not a huge fan now. But anything is better than the rec league black/yellow/white unis of the past couple of years. Those looked unprofessional, and uninspired.
As a kid, I loved the note being used as the J in Jazz. I wish the team would re-incorporate that on a jersey.
Overall an upgrade.
Given the light blue looks the same as what is being used as their placeholder for the NHL team, do we think the Utah Yeti/Mammoth will also go with purple in their colour scheme? Seems like it isn’t a coincidence on the blues, as they clearly had this NBA redesign ready to go for months.
I love the striped-mountain motif. A lot. Not big on the two-toned wordmark on the jerseys. I think solid white on both would work great, especially on the white.
Worth noting that the design firm, Doubleday & Cartwright, are working with the Jazz/hockey ownership to design the uniforms for the relocated Arizona Coyotes. My two guesses are a) the 2025-26 City Jazz uniform will resemble whatever the relocated NHL team has for its future identity and colors, or b) all of these new Jazz uniforms contain elements that will be used for the NHL team.
I think I read that the owner wants synergy with both teams. Chris Creamer thinks powder blue or ice blue will be one of the colors from one of his recent ledes.
Grey jerseys are never going to happen because they will end up representing the toxic smog that plagues the entire atmosphere along the Wasatch Front.
The similarities between the two purple jerseys just emphasize how much of a merch dump new uniforms are now. What is the point of have two uniforms so similar?
I’ll concur with others here, if they are going to lean into the mountain theme, and completely abandon the Jazz of it all, why even be called that.
In general the mountain design is just too reminiscent of the period it first appeared, too much teal, purple, and black, too much overdesign instead of simplicity. It isn’t awful but I cannot divorce it from the excess of the designs in the 90s, all which seemed very cool to me in middle school, but as an adult with hindsight, no thanks. Angry dinosaurs, angry bears, flaming horses…
Good looking. Paul must have hated the Western Conference purple obsession, with the Lakers, Suns, Kings, and Jazz.
They’re still the Utah Jazz? Not a rebrand.
I actually really like these. Not perfect but they look like the jazz. Unfortunately, until the league gets rid of the awful “city addition” stylings Im just happy 2 of the jerseys arent red and orange for zero reason
I’m not a Jazz fan and have never even been to Utah, but I’ll offer my thoughts anyway =P
I really like the new Icon, Association, and City uniforms. Statement is OK but has too much black and not enough actual color. My favorite single element out of all of these is the mountains made of seven discrete stripes. I love that “faux gradient” look, and I find it more interesting than a real gradient.
Its a perfect encapsulation of how badly the jazz botched this whole process that they have to do a hype video/standalone image featuring four uniforms where two of them are nearly identical but somehow still different and won’t be worn in the same season.
Jazzfan for all 45 years they’ve been in Utah here.
People with no rooting interest in the team are always commenting about the “Jazz” name and griping that it doesn’t fit in Utah. I’m here to tell you that it does fit because that has been the name of the team for 45 years and fans of the team have been Jazzfans for 45 years. That connection goes back decades and recalls legendary teams that fans of this team cherish. We are not stupid and we get that Jazz is a much better fit for a team in New Orleans, but the fact is the decision to keep the Jazz name was made 45 years ago and the time for that to be reversed has passed. If you are a basketball fan in Utah, you love the JAZZ. Check the stats, the following of the team is robust and the love for the team permeates the community.
As to the uniforms – sure. I had hoped that the yellow/black/white set would grow on me but it never really did. So change to me is fine. That it’s purple mountains and harks back to the best era in Jazz history (97-98) all the better.
I have never been an actual Jazz fan, but they’re one of those teams that I’ve always kind of followed, dating back to roughly the ’86-’87 season. I have tremendous respect for the team’s history and remember many of their best players with fondness. The name always struck me as an oddity, but I rolled with it, particularly because I liked their logo, color scheme, and uniforms.
I agree with Jace above that the Jazz should not change their name. It’s embedded in the community now. The problem is, the name makes it difficult for the team to come up with a coherent visual identity that fits the region and its culture.
As much as I like them, the old uniforms from the ’80s and early to mid-’90s did nothing to anchor the team in Utah. The late ’80s uniforms, to which the newly released uniforms pay homage, always felt a little incongruous with the word “Jazz” superimposed across the mountains. I also felt like the wordmark on them was too low, basically running across the players’ stomach rather than their chests (link).
But all of those were better than the ultra-minimalist set they’re ditching. Hey, less often is more, but sometimes less is less, and these uniforms were the least. Black and yellow can be a great color scheme, as Phil mentions above, but the yellow in these ventured too close to the highlighter variety for my tastes. Plus, the colors never felt like they belonged to the Jazz. Whatever the faults of the previous sets were, at least purple worked well as both a color for jazz and for the mountains.
So this new set? I rate it as a major improvement over what they’re leaving behind except that I think they could have accomplished this better by just promoting their current throwbacks (link) to primary status. Even with the slight problems I mentioned above, they hearken back to a great era for the team and they have a unique and interesting color scheme, while also correcting the issue of the wordmark by moving it closer to the chest.
The new versions certainly play up the mountain/Utah part of the team’s identity , but do it to the exclusion of the “Jazz” part of their identity for the most part. I don’t know what the exact right balance is, but I feel like the late ’90s uniforms stumbled into something halfway decent.
Still, a team in Utah, in purple, with mountains on the uniforms? Hey, it could be far, far worse. And in fact, it recently was!
Could going to Utah on the uniform, have something to do with their new NHL brethren, since that team will also be call Utah.
This is better than before, but not saying much. The whole roll out has been a hot mess. They have two purple uniforms that are almost identical and half of the uniforms are being rolled out over two seasons? It makes no sense!
I hate the black uniform. It has no place on the Jazz palate (I don’t care about the black alt from the late 90s, those didn’t make sense either). Also, to have no “Jazz” on either the white or purple uniforms is a miss. It’s also a big miss that the music note is not more prominently used. It’s a great logo/wordmark to use.
Please excuse my ignorance NBA fans, but I’m going to say that I’m almost certain without research that this is what the Utah Jazz uniforms were when Michael Jordan’s three pointer knocked them out of the playoffs?
Connection to yesterday’s post I guess I can say the Utah Jazz uniform of the Jordan era caught my eye.
..so I’m glad those uniforms are back, and kind of makes the NBA feel more comfortable.
Are you talking about the 3 pointer Jordan hit in the 1998 Finals (when he won his sixth ring)?
The Jazz wore something similar, but not the same
link
Here’s more
link
Ooh yeah, those are them.
That night feels like yesterday, switching from The Simpsons to those NBA Finals watching on the television that my brothers and I saved up for when we were young and still living at home. Ahh Good times.
Those Jazz uniforms will forever be iconic in my mind.
Are you talking about the 3 pointer Jordan hit in the 1998 Finals
…after he pushed off from Bryon Russell?
Here me out: This is a soft preview of the colors the new Utah hockey team will have (which also lock in for me that the name will be Yeti as well). The new ownership has already shown they have a strong desire to include black in their colors with the Jazz, then with the look at the temporary logo for Utah HC Sports Logos showed of that is ALSO black and powder blue, it leads me to believe they’re looking at building a cohesive color way for Utah’s big 4 aspirations and identity. Wouldn’t be surprised if purple sneaks in as well (off the top of my head without looking, does any NHL team have purple?). Pure speculation, but I think some hints are out there.
And by “here” I of course mean “hear.”
The Anaheim Ducks wore a purple alternate this season, but I don’t think they plan to carry it over into 2024-25. The LA Kings wore a white-over-purple Reverse Retro uniform in 2022-23, which was another one-year deal. But the Kings have been toying with purple off and on for a lot of years now, so it will probably be back soon in some form.
Just change the name to “Utah Mountains” and give the Jazz name back to New Orleans.
Question for Phil/Uni — is it possible that the Jazz are the only basketball team to have one every colour at some point? I’m including the redrock sets in here for all the shades of red and orange. By my count they’ve have had red, orange, yellow, light blue, navy blue, green, purple, light purple/pink, black, white, and even brown! The Canucks are otherwise the closest (I think) across the major sports leagues, so the Jazz may have that distinct honor!
*to have used every color
Great question and I don’t know that answer. If I had the time, I’d go through the NBA uni database link
If the Jazz haven’t used the most (or every) color in the entire palette, they’ve used a lot. link
If you’re really curious, I’d recommend Donovan Moore’s fantastic site. It *should* list all the colors for all their various unis
link
If there’s anyone up there with the Jazz, it’s the Hawks, who just in Atlanta have tried royal blue, sky blue, red, athletic gold, lime green, “volt green”(?), and black.
Phasing it in over 2 seasons? They can’t keep a uni set for more than 2 seasons. These will be obsolete by the time they are fully “introduced”.
I overall like these a lot…
However, I am not crazy on the phase in. But it’s not that big a deal. The one thing that confuses me about this whole situation is, will they have an icon uniform next year? I thought icon and association were the main uniforms. Not having an icon uniform seems odd to me. But I love the uniforms.
It looks like the Jazz of earlier times, it is an upgrade over the practice wear uniforms they were wearing but no JAZZ wordmark on any new jersey? Utah first, second and third and then maybe the focus on the J-Note only? Come on, you are named the Utah Jazz, not the Utah Basketball Club.
This is the beginning of a “Purp Wave” now that Paul has retired from the uni beat.
I like these quite a bit–there is a throughline across all the uniforms (unless the yet to be revealed alt will be bright red, which…well, the Jazz have done that before) and a distinct identity. Much like the Suns last year, this seems like a nice update to their 90s look. It works for me–and it’s much better than the super plain unis they’ve worn the last couple years.
What’s with Utah being wildly unprepared when it comes to branding? Jazz can’t get a full new uniform set for next season, and the hockey team won’t have a name!
They need to reset to their original color scheme and tie in some of the Moab colors and gradient in their alternates. Purple mountains should go away for good. Bare minimum, at least one of the jerseys should actually say “Jazz”! Not one jersey in these last two sets has had the name “Jazz” on it. But maybe that’s pointing to a bigger change to be phased in.
As much as I love the Jazz note logo and wordmark, these are phenomenal. Black one is the only one I’m not 100% sold on funnily enough, given that’s the only one with the note on it.
i think these uniforms look really nice.
With the number tucked under the “JNote” I call them the Square Root jerseys.
How come the jerseys that the kids are wearing have two advertisers patches? Delta and LVT. The player jerseys and mock ups do not.
I really hate every last thing the Utah Jazz have done since they retired the red rocks uniforms. This is a team that understands nothing about branding and it would suit them not to sell a single souvenir unless it says “Maravich” on the back. An utter disgrace.
city edtion should say jazz on it……honoring the stockton-malone era.
I hope the lack of Jazz on the jersey means they’ll do the thing they should have done for years now:
Change the name from the Jazz to something else…