Good morning, Uni Watchers. A Happy Hump Day to one and all.
Last Friday, I introduced you to long-time reader Alonso Perez, who has created an entire NBA uniform refresh series. In that article, we looked at Alonso’s concepts for the NBA Eastern Conference. Today, Alonso returns with the Western Conference.
In case you didn’t click on the link above (or simply want a refresher), I’ll include Alonso’s introduction to the refresh project and then we’ll check out the West.
What the NBA needs is a jersey refresh. I implemented a fairly strict team colorway across the jerseys of every team. I went with a new manufacturer, Under Armour, to move on from the excesses of late Nike and Adidas. Drawing from Under Armour’s excellent work in the college game, I went for clean, straight lines and bold color, rather than the intricate detailing and swooping lines increasingly seen on NBA jerseys.
I want these jerseys to feel new but nostalgic. I tried to make each jersey in each set something I can imagine a fan being excited to buy. Not all the sets are fully uniform, but they are unified by shared colors and design language.
Each team gets 4 jerseys; a home jersey (white), an away jersey (dark), a home alternate (white or light), and an away alternate (dark). The home and away jerseys would be worn upwards of 75% of the time, about 30 games a season each, with the alternates each being worn about 10 games. For each team, one of the two alternates is a ‘Retro Refresh’, a classic design from the team’s history updated with the new color scheme.
Big shoutout to the NBA Jersey Database and Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.Net. I borrowed heavily from their work. All logos are either from the NBA teams’ archive, or are my own design. The template is my own as well.
By Alonso Perez
Hey y’all, thanks for all the comments on my first post! Really appreciate the positives, and the constructive feedback. It means more than you know. While the East was pretty traditional, the West is where things start to get more wild. Let’s get into it.
(Listed by seed)
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder have a lot of good ingredients for an identity, but they aren’t cooking yet. I started with a new abstract logo, with a layout inspired by the shield on the state flag. The home and away jerseys get a major redesign, with bold trim that recalls both their name and the geometric patterns of indigenous art. The execution was inspired by this LA Galaxy jersey. The away alternate is a little bit more subdued, but still features lightning flashes on the shorts. The home alternate is maybe my favorite Retro Refresh in this whole series. It recalls the Oklahoma City Cavalry, a minor league team from the ’90s, whose name copied the Cavs and whose jerseys mainly plagiarized the Pacers. However, something about their look just comes to life in Thunder colors.
It all starts with the dunking astronaut, maybe the best thing to come out of the City Connect program. The home and away jerseys get an angled, NASA-esque font, and gradient trim that references their ’90s look. The alternates really lean into the Rockets’ ketchup and mustard heritage, and add some barbecue sauce to the mix.
It’s interesting- the classic Lakers jersey, exactly as you imagine it, has never really existed. The ’80s and ’90s had weirdly angled text and mismatched shorts, the Kobe era went too Y2K with massive side panels and a wishbone collar, the current set bungles the striping and adds too much black. This is my attempt to create their classic look. The trim on the home and away gets an update, and a simple new shorts logo is added. The home Retro Refresh brings the purple and gold to the first set they wore in LA, with a cameo from their mythical giraffe logo on the waist. The away alternate updates the iconic but never-worn jersey from Kobe’s 2003 SLAM cover.
I built from the current, title-winning look, which I think can become iconic in time. I brought in a ‘new’ font from their ’70s sets, with numbers to match. The red accents don’t add too much, so they’re gone here. The home alternate is a bit bolder. Something about their logo really works on the front of a jersey, and their deranged ’70s miner is a fun occasional addition to their identity on the shorts. The away alternate is a wintry take on their rainbow skyline look from the ’80s.
Back in middle school, seeing Blake Griffin dunk over that car felt like the moon landing. The Clippers’ red jersey with the script logo is iconic to me, no matter the lack of wins, no matter that they now wear navy, no matter how many people here probably wanna see sky blue and orange. So that’s what I went with. The home, away, and alternate have striping inspired by the ’80s and ’90s, with the excellent scripts from their latest rebrand. Their new logo is simplified to include just a compass, with the southwest highlighted in red. The home alternate is a sky blue take on the first jerseys they wore in LA.
It’s a tragedy that a team as exciting as the Timberwolves has to take the court dressed like your friend who just got into running. The home and away bring back the iconic tree trim, with a wordmark and numbers that bring some of the angles and unpredictability of the ’90s fonts with a bit more legibility. The away alternate is a favorite of mine – it is their first true green jersey, but feels familiar due to a script adapted from a detail on their ’80s logo. Their home alternate renders their first look in wolf gray.
The Warriors have built a dynasty wearing a really unique, colorful set. The home and away get some minimal cleanups on the striping. The home alt in gold is a more subtle take on their core look. The away alternate harkens back to their struggle era in the late ’90s, updated with their current colors for the trim.
The Grizzlies always seem to wear their light blue alts in their big games anyway, so I made that their full-time away set, and made their blue a bit more vibrant. The home jersey is an updated version of their ‘Grit and Grind’ era look, while the away and away alternate build on their clever ‘MEM’ trim pattern. The home alternate is a Retro Refresh, swapping out their early 2000s colors for the double blue and gold, but keeping the awesome swiping grizzly bear logo on the shorts.
I replaced the drab grey in the Kings’ color scheme with a gold that brings warmth and regality. The home gets more intricate striping, while the away has bolder stripes that let the color scheme pop more. The away alternate is a purple take on their home jersey. The home alternate brings back a forgotten 2000s alternate. I loved using this jersey in NBA2K, so even though it’s a little ugly, I brought it back with a color scheme update.
While the Mavericks wear deeply dated Y2K jerseys, their color scheme, which mirrors the Cowboys, is worth keeping (especially if the Timberwolves reclaim royal and green). I made a simple new logo for them, and redrew wordmarks inspired by their ’80s look. The home, away, and home alternate are pretty classic. I went a bit rogue with their away alternate, which is inspired by the Dallas flag. It’s out there, but recently the Mavericks have shown that they aren’t afraid to make an unconventional choice.
Like the Suns’ current jerseys, I was heavily inspired by their ’90s set. While their current set took the flaming ball across the chest, but left behind the gradients, fonts, and black, I take the exact opposite direction. For me, the gradient orange and black of that era perfectly evoked an Arizona sunset, and the blocky rounded text was fun and unique. In the end, you don’t even need the flaming basketball. The home alternate goes even further with the gradients. The away alternate is a Retro Refresh, rendering their classic ’70s look in black.
The ’70s Trail Blazers logo is a sports design classic, and I’m surprised that the font from that logo never made it onto their jerseys. That font is the basis of the wordmark and numbers that enliven their classic home, away, and away alternate looks. The home alternate is a cream take on their early ’70s look.
The Spurs have chipped away a bit at one of the best looks in the NBA. Here the home and away return to their ’90s wordmarks and numbering, while their shorts get new Alamo-inspired striping. The alternates stay pretty simple, which just feels right for the Spurs.
I have a deep affinity for the Pelicans, born from 2 visits to New Orleans, summers watching pelicans glide over the beach in Costa Rica, and that brief moment when it seemed like Zion Williamson would take over the world. I like their wordmarks, and I like their colors – I prefer them to the garish purple, gold, and green of Canal Street. The home jersey highlights the city flag at the waistband and stays classic, while the away is now a more dynamic red, with wrought-iron detailing in gold on the shorts. That is flipped in navy for the away alternate, while the home alternate is a retconned gold version of their Chris Paul look, from the days when they were still the Hornets.
When I lived in Utah I spent many afternoons watching the setting sun turn the mountains purple, so I’m glad that the Jazz’s real-life rebrand is going in that direction. I tried a different, more timeless take here, partly inspired by Slovenian soccer jerseys. The home alternate is a unique lavender look which brings back their classic wordmark. The away alternate is a Retro Refresh of their early 2000s alt, now in purple and sky blue.
Readers? What say you?
The Mavs refresh alone is worth the price of admission for these redesigns. Well done
GTGFTS
3 May 1964
Tommy John (who I forgot played for the Indians) dealing to an Oriole (who I forgot had block lettering in the early 60’s), finishing up a complete game shutout, outdueling Robin Roberts (who I forgot was an Oriole).
Final score as pictured.
Pretty boring for the Suns. They should have something like the 1990s flaming ball.
That San Antiono alternate with the Bulls style short striping….
That is what they wore before actually
Some good ideas like OKC with the neck and armhole trim, which is my fave set because of that and that the shorts match on the home and away, the Timberwolves set bringing back the trees, and some not so good ideas such as so much mismatch with the home and change shorts and jerseys, the lack of the flaming basketball on the Suns now empty looking jerseys and the same round collar with the UA logo for every single jersey.
I appreciate the effort, just that the amount of mismatch is pretty offputting.
Wow!
First, there’s some great commentary here:
“The alternates really lean into the Rockets’ ketchup and mustard heritage, and add some barbecue sauce to the mix.”
“It’s a tragedy that a team as exciting as the Timberwolves has to take the court dressed like your friend who just got into running.”
Disappointed to see the Mavs retain their colour scheme, but I agree that it would be unnecessary for both Dallas and Minnesota to revert to blue and green, and Dallas’ is the one worth saving. Despite the disappointment, I like how it turned out.
Other favourites:
– All of the OKC looks (ignoring the logo, which feels weak)
– All of the Houston looks (including the logo!!!)
– Lakers black (I have the SLAM jersey referenced, but with Shaq 34)
– All of the Denver looks
– Clippers sky blue
– Minnesota white, blue, and green (grey makes perfect sense, but I think it should have been paired with navy blue)
– Golden State navy
– Sacramento purple
– New Orleans gold
I agree with the idea of keeping Dallas in green and blue. You could pull it off by making Minnesota royal blue with (darker or lighter) green accents, and Dallas could revert to kelly green with royal (or navy) accents.
GTGFTU June 10, 2017 Tampa Bay Rays 6 Oakland A’s 5 First time Rays wore the Powder Blue “fauxback” at home, only previously worn in Chicago in 2014 (!). A’s wore regular Green jerseys with Gold headspoon. First game of a doubleheader. I think I remember being at the 2nd game but not that one :(
Many thanks to Phil for his 8 Year old Post on this!
I agree wholeheartedly with the concept that you like to be able to turn a game on and instantaneously be able to tell who’s playing – so keeping the colors consistent, even with multiple uniform variations, makes perfect sense and is an easy solution.
I like a lot of these quite a bit–some good resets for teams but maintaining a lot of the fun and cool elements that teams like Golden State and Portland and Houston have used in years past. That said, I do think the Phoenix set is a little too bland. It’s missing the early ’90s shooting Sun logo, I think.
OKC and Minnesota are 1000x better than what they wear now. Denver needs to go back to rainbow skyline asap.
As a die-hard Nuggets fan, I couldn’t agree with you more!
Go back to the rainbow skyline uniforms, Denver!!!!
Most unique uniform they’ve ever had!
Yes, the Nuggs aren’t my team, but rainbow unis are my favorite sports uniforms ever. Any redesign *must* contain a good version of those. Props there.
I find it telling, that more than half of the designs you people come up with, are not designs, they are just copied versions that teams already have.
Maybe we should cut Nike some slack. The talent (or the intelligence) to create something nice, just isn’t in people anymore.
Well, there is only so much they can do. It’s like Star Wars: too similar and you get called out for plagiarizing or retreading, too radically different and you might turn ppl off. IMO.
That Jazz concept is a thing of beauty!
I like the idea behind the Houston set, but I don’t care for how it actually looks. Maybe if it was their regular font and not NASA font it would tie it closer to what feels like the Rockets look.
Like I said to the last set, seeing this change around the league would immediately get my interest back up
More good than bad here again.
Dallas would be better off green/blue.
Phoenix is understated to the point of being bland.
Denver is giving me Kansas Jayhawks vibes.
Not loving the double red for Houston, just ketchup and mustard please.
Utah as purple-first is great but I am not sure about lavender alts.
Those aside, I could live with these.
LIKES
Blending the ads with the color schemes
Lakers back to normal, such small changes make it classic again
Thunder home alt is awesome
Using more spaceman for Houston, though probably should be the secondary logo
Nuggs’ # font is cool and the axe man on the shorts
New clipper logo better than their ship logo
Whole wolves set, esp the road alt with green and cursive with the n. star
Warriors we believe in their current colors
Kings light gold trim, white pelicans jersey with the red lettering
AZ state logo
DISLIKES
Thunder logo too much like jellyfish
Lakers LA logo on shorts and the writing down the side on home alt
Wolves would use their newer howling wolf round logo, no need to go back to the old logo
Dallas logo feels like sad horse
Portland: one version/orientation of logo would improve the look
overall great work!
I think the fact that I didn’t even realize he had included ads is a testament to Alonso’s ability. I had to go up and double check when I saw your comment.
As a Suns fan, the primaries look too plain.
The yellow is a hard no – too close to the Lakers color.
I do love the black fauxback. That design has been made by Nike as a fashion jersey in the past, but never worn on court.
Any Nugs concept that gets rid of the red is already better than the current
Not the biggest fan of the font used on the home/away
The away alternate is nice though, they need to back to some form of that full-time
A lot of good stuff here. A few thoughts:
– Thank you for bringing back the lower-case “pointy” font for my hometown team, the Blazers. I’ve wanted them to go back to those for years. The other tweak I want is to go back to the straight-up-and-down pinwheel, rather than the tilted version.
– Thank you for doing a version of the rainbow Nuggets set. That is a must.
– For me, the Spurs need fiesta color accents. Liven up the black and silver.
– I still hate the gold Kings alternates! They should have at least one set that has “SAC” or some nod to the city name front and center.
– Someone else mentioned the home and road Suns jerseys are a little plain. All they’re missing is the original sunburst across the chest (not the lame current version).
Alonso, these are well executed and you have a lot more hits than misses. Adam Silver, if you’re reading this, please create a front office position for Alonso titled “Director of Uniform Management.”
I like the Lakers and Spurs sets the best. That said, I wish the creator would swap the placement of the Logoman and the ad.