Reader/designer/pal Walter Helfer has been busy with a project wherein he basically color swaps red/blue teams so that the dominant color becomes secondary, and vice versa. So far, he’s compiled swapped uniforms for teams in the NHL, as well as the NFL and MLB. In addition, based on reader feedback, Walter recently tweaked his concepts for the Bills, Patriots and created a “blue” Cardinals alternate.
Walter returns today to complete his major sports red pill/blue pill swaps, with the NBA.
Here’s Walter:
Red Pill, Blue Pill: NBA Edition
by Walter Helfer
Right off the bat, pro basketball has been playing the Red Pill, Blue Pill game for decades. We have been treated to all manner of Wizards, Nets, Pistons, Seventy-sixers, and Clippers’ uniforms over the years. As you’ll see, my frame of reference focuses on the late ’70s, when most of these teams settled on their classic looks.
NEW YORK NETS
The Spaghetti Strap Gang reveled in the nation’s bicentennial, and flipping the color scheme doesn’t change much. Of course, the US Flag wears its stars against the blue background, but the change would not make anyone think the team was being unpatriotic. Indeed, I bet many fans wish the names and numbers of the white jerseys *had* been blue.
PHILADELPHIA SEVENTY-SIXERS
1971 was the year the team adopted the flag motif, but it took Julius Erving’s joining the team to raise their profile. The last season of the classic Sixers’ stars was 1977, but the red version gives a sneak peek of what would follow.
Changing tastes — and Bicentennial hangover — revealed a starker Sixers’ uniform for the 1977-78 season. The blue uniform might have flown with New England Patriots’ fans who disapproved of the NFL team’s red jersey, but I think the Sixers made the right choice. Red is a dynamic color, and basketball is a dynamic sport.
WASHINGTON BULLETS
Reversing the color scheme changes this bunch dramatically. The stripes have more of a maritime look and the red stars of the 1974 uniform take a minute to register. In 1985 the Bullets dressed up the horizontal stripes and subtracted the stars. The first issue I have is how difficult it is to read the front number. The verdict? They were better off in blue.
Philadelphia and Washington now wear uniforms clearly inspired by what was worn in the 1970s. Flipping the colors of the Wizards’ home uniform barely registers at all, and you can be forgiven for thinking they already wear these. The Sixers’ change is more noticeable, and looks on a par with the blue-heavy home suits. In fact, I think Philadelphia is the only NBA team whose new uniforms are not inferior to the classics.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS and DETROIT PISTONS
We are familiar with these teams in red, white, AND blue, and I thought my efforts might be better seen in changing their home uniforms. It’s been a looong time since the Detroit whites were blue-heavy. The Pistons’ glory years were the 1990’s, the Clippers’ have yet to come, but the ’90s set were most-closely identified with the team.
CINCINNATI ROYALS and DENVER NUGGETS
I thought it a good idea to return to these legacy uniforms, and try my color-swap. The Royals were wise to stick with blue, but I’ll take those expansion-year Nuggets’ sets on any day! They have recently reverted to being a red, white, and blue (and gold) team, so the jerseys with the prospector’s pan and pickaxe suddenly look fresh. One of the more unusual jersey fronts in the NBA’s history.
Thanks, Walter!
OK readers — what do you think? Please let us know down in the comments below!
Of course, the US Flag wears its stars against the blue background, but the change would not make anyone think the team was being unpatriotic.
But, similar to your version of the Cardinals jersey with navy-colored cardinals on the bat, one look and the viewer would instinctively respond “this is wrong.” Some color inversions simply do not work.
I get you– the only reason for navy blue cardinals was to offer contrast to the red bat with the yellow outline. I was rather proud of that detail, by the way!
Aside from the Nuggets at the end, I think this shows that when it comes to the NBA, the red/blue swaps really don’t cause a drastic change for the teams. Maybe that is because these teams have swapped already in the real world, or the existence of so many alternates. But none of those looked “wrong” to me. I would have assumed those were actual uniforms.
The MLB, NFL, and NHL swaps all seemed more dramatic, and the teams did not look right when swapped.
The prevalence of royal blue-heavy teams created an imbalance. To me, the worst one was the Phillies, the best was the Dodgers.
Agreed. Alternates, throwbacks, a decade of city editions, we are no longer sensitive to many NBA teams traditional look . Or put more aggressively: so many teams have destroyed their branding the past 10 years that nothing looks “wrong” anymore.
Part of what determines whether we think of a team as a “red” team or a “blue” team is the color of the caps/helmets. Which we don’t have in basketball.
Denver Nuggets red swapped uni looks nice!!!
would have worked as a 3rd jersey (had such a thing existed then) or a faux-back now in my opinion!
I second that totally!
LOVE the Nuggets uni!
I used to say, “That gold nugget looks more like a potato.” Now, I think they are the best unused throwbacks. Extra points for the funky fonts they whipped up for the team name.
More, please!
Always!
This project always reminds me of the Blue Jays’ red Canada Day jerseys: my eyes want to say, “hey that’s nice”, but my brain in screaming “NOOOOOOO”.