Good Monday morning, Uni Watchers. I hope everyone has had a good weekend.
The NBA’s “City Edition” uniforms are usually unveiled in October or November, just prior to their debuts. But it appears a major leak, according to @jerseyarchive and @ProLineMockups on TwitterX, has sprung. The two accounts have made mockups of over 20 jerseys which they indicate are new City Edition jerseys for 2025-26.
So far, only one CE has officially been unveiled, and that is for the Detroit Pistons. At the time, I noted, “And if the design of that uniform looks familiar, that’s because it is. The team used that design for their 2021-22 City Edition as well.”
It has since been reported that most or all of this year’s CE uniforms will be reading from the same script. That is, apparently this year there will be no new CE designs, but instead teams will reuse a previous design in different colors.
Over the weekend, ProLine had a bunch of tweets like these:
13/30
The Boston Celtics 2025-26 City Edition will be a recolor of the 2017-18 set. Confirmed in collaboration with @jerseyarchive.
*Design may not be 100% accurate.
Follow all of these accounts for the latest:@ProLineMockups@jerseyarchive@nbaunitracker@caseyvitelli
STAY… pic.twitter.com/KcOout4aYJ
— ProLine Mockups (@ProLineMockups) June 8, 2025
You’ll note the two jerseys shown above note the new designs “will be a recolor” of a previous jersey, which does correspond with the previously reported color swaps. There was a large number of leaks, some of which do have a disclaimer of “*Final design may not be 100% accurate”, but others don’t have the disclaimer.
3/30
The Minnesota Timbewolves will bring back the City Edition from 2018-19. Confirmed in collaboration with @jerseyarchive.
Follow all of these accounts for the latest:@ProLineMockups@jerseyarchive@nbaunitracker@caseyvitelli
STAY TUNED and BOOKMARK THIS THREAD. pic.twitter.com/Ths37uLWgV
— ProLine Mockups (@ProLineMockups) June 7, 2025
But let’s take a look at what ProLine and NBA Jersey Archive are reporting. In several instances, where the jerseys appear identical to a previous year, they note the team will be “running back” a previous edition. I have no knowledge of their sources, but I had not heard teams would be bringing back identical versions of previous CE uniforms.
This one is almost identical to the MLK tribute CE the Hawks wore in 2020-21.
This appears to be identical to the 2018-19 edition.
This one is a recolor of the 2017-18 set.
This would be a recolor of the 2017-18 edition.
This will be a recolor of the 2022-23 uni. The accounts note this design is not final.
This one is very similar to the 2020-21 uniform. The accounts note “*Final design may have some variations from what is seen here on the wing pattern and trim.”
This design is almost identical to the 2019-20 edition. They’ve also used it in 2018-19 and 2020-21. The accounts note this design is not final.
The Warriors actually had something very similar as a “Statement” jersey (2017-19), which morphed into the 2019-20 City Edition. This would be a recolor.
This one looks very much like the 2023-24 CE.
This appears to be a recolor of the 2022-23 uni.
This would be a recolor of the 2018-19 CE.
This will be a recolor of the 2021-22 uni.
A recolor of the 2021-22 edition.
This will be a recoloring of the 2019-20 CE kit.
They are reporting this will be the original 2020-22 The Valley uni returning. (Yes, they kept it two seasons.)
This would be a recolor of the 2018-19 edition. They caution the design is not yet final.
The Lake Show will apparently be rerunning their 2023-24 CE uniform, according to ProLine.
This would be a recolor of the 2020-21 edition.
This would be a rerun of their 2018-19 CE uni. (They’ve also worn that design in white, light blue, and a pink-blue fade.)
This seems to be a rehash of their 2019-20 City Edition. I thought the Bucks weren’t allowed to wear cream-colored uniforms anymore, as Paul dutifully noted in that Inconspicuous Consumption column. So I’m wondering if something has changed such that they can wear cream again…
The T-wolves will be returning the 2018-19 Purple Rain uni.
According to ProLine, the Blazers will be running back their 2022-23 edition.
This will be a recolor of the 2022-23 version.
This would bring back the 2023-24 edition.
The Spurs will be running back their 2020-21 kit, according to ProLine.
This would be a slight recolor of the 2021-22 edition.
This will be a recolor of the 2021-22 edition.
Each year, every team is tasked with creating alternate uniforms that “celebrate the history, culture, and heritage of each city” and its respective NBA team. Even if we didn’t like them, in the early years of the program, a few teams introduced some absolutely outstanding uniforms, even if the majority were simply merch dump cash grabs. But as we’ve seen of late, several teams have already “run back” previous designs (in alternate color schemes) and most of us would agree the past several years have been a sartorial disaster.
Maybe Nike and the NBA realize it’s time to bring this program to a close, and what better way than to turn out one last batch that are devoid of any design changes whatsoever. And if ProLine/NBA Jerseys are correct, a good number of the upcoming CE’s won’t even be recolors.
The best way to end this program would be to allow teams to select one City Edition — preferably the “best” — and to keep it in the rotation for a few seasons, and stop this one-year merch dump nonsense. At least in MLB (and shortly in the NFL with the “Rivalries” uniforms) teams keep a design for several seasons. The NBA would do well to follow suit.
Of course, I’d argue that none of these programs should exist, but that horse left the barn years ago. But they can at least make the best of it and let teams select their “best” (or maybe even let the fans vote!) CE uniform and just keep that in the locker as an option for three or more years.
Your thoughts?
Oh look. More superfluous uniforms we’ll forget about
Okay, we’ve reached the point where we’re doing things not even soccer teams do with annual releases (straight up reusing an old design without a period of several decades in between).
Also, this post doesn’t read well on mobile, possibly because the top picture is too big.
Yeah, I mean…. I like a lot of these, and liked them upon their initial release dates, which goes to show that maybe we shouldn’t be introducing new alternates every two weeks or whatever.
Can anyone explain why Golden State is “the Town”? Or why Portland is PDX? Is that their airport code? What is the purpose of these uniforms if they aren’t in team colors and don’t even have an identifier most people would understand?
“The Town” refers to Oakland despite the team not playing there for several years now. Yes, PDX is Portland’s airport code.
And the sash on the jersey is based on the carpet at the airport.
Lest we forget, PDX has an X in it and that apparently makes it sexy.
X for X sake
PDX is one of the few airport codes that people in that city use interchangeably for the city itself and not just the airport. Portlanders have a very odd and endearing affection for their airport.
Oakland is “the Town” if San Francisco is “the City”, as their old 60s unis stated back when they played in SF the first time around. I believe this design first appeared when the team still played in Oakland. It makes literally zero sense now and is just patronizing for people in Oakland.
When I first saw the Raptor’s one in the header picture I though “Ooh, a raptor skeleton? That’s a good one” but no, in the bigger picture it’s clearly just a regular raptor coloured white. Disapointing.
A skeletal raptor could be pretty cool.
Include a pattern based on the Royal Ontario Museum and we’re cooking. Relevant to both the city and the team name.
Knicks one appears to be more than a simple recoloring. A welcome return to the vertically arched serif ‘New York.’ Side panels are straight, not triangular. Should’ve embedded that old alt NYC token logo into the panels instead of a checkered pattern, but that’s the quibbliest of quibbles.
This is unfussy and sharp. What a concept …
That is a pretty specific score for GTGFTS. August 26, 2019 at Kauffman Stadium. Homer Bailey gets the win with a 6-inning outing while none of KC’s pitchers last two full innings. Marcus Semien leads with 7 RBIs, including a homer and a triple.
Oh goody, more boring, useless crap. And look! It’s another “The Land” sighting, beloved by TV and marketing dweebs and exactly nobody else.
Hot garbage.
So either these are fake or Nike has completely run out of ideas. Time to end this dumb program.
i could see a few teams making one of these editions the basis for a uni redesign. some are quite good and better than the usual ones they wear. obviously others are quite bad too but all in all it’s cool that some excellent designs came out of this, even if the hit rate was low
The Denver one would be my pick for this
Okay, so the Knicks’ uniform is actually pretty good. The rest is just eye pollution.
That OKC uni is so much better than their tired regular set (as is just about any other uniform), and the Spurs need to incorporate a little more “Fiesta” colors into their regular unis. Just a tad.
Most people don’t look good in basketball jerseys, unlike hockey sweaters and baseball or football jerseys. Most people are spending less money with fears over the economy. It’s time to dump this crass merch dump. This program ran out of ideas years ago and this is proof. Celtics without green? Hawks going as MLK without any hint of red?
I get the affinity for Denver’s rainbow guts and the Spurs’ fiesta stripes. But that’s about it here for a league with 30 teams.
The Wizards uniform is odd. Yes, it’s a recolor of the mixtape uni they were a few years back, but the color (is that tan?) is all new. It’s not the old bronze or gold they used in prior uniforms.
Fans have been clamoring for a Chocolate City or uni that’s an ode to Chuck Brown for years. It’ll be interesting to see what the “story” on this one is.
GTGFTU:
April 25, 2015 – Cleveland at Detroit
Buckeyes vs Stars Negro League throwbacks.
Here is another post that is difficult to read because the ads (I believe force part of the left side of the screen to be cut off. I get these fairly frequently. I have a pretty new Samsung Galaxy phone. It’s not like a 10 year old Motorola or anything. Screenshot below. I literally can’t move the article over or zoom out.
link
This.
added nothing
As a couple of other people have commented, the alignment of this article makes reading it on a mobile phone almost impossible. It’s disappointing that this has been occurring more and more frequently on this site.
+1
The Bulls should have done their City Edition as a white Sox inspired uni. At least we’d all get a laugh out of it.
The Orlando jersey has the old, as of this month, Magic wordmark. Seems kind of suspect to use that older logo while they are trying to break in the new one.
I like the T-Mac throwback.
Exactly my thought, but Nike will try to sell it as a retro inspired uniform…anything over a month old is already retro at this point in time.
I don’t mind most of these, and some of them I like. The ones I don’t like are mostly those that don’t use the teams’ colors and/or have dumb (imo) nicknames on the front.
I mean, I wouldn’t buy or wear any of these, but most of them aren’t too bad.
I have a few thoughts. First, anyone who’s still complaining that these exist: yeah they still exist. Until Nike changes their plan, this will happen every season, if you don’t like it, ignore it. Also: if these programs don’t give you something to be excited about (no matter how many misses they produce) why are you here? Would you really want to follow a blog where the lede every day was “nothing new to report. No uni changes whatsoever, as usual”? Next: if this is true, it’s great news. Nike has obviously learned that it’s ok to stick with something that works (or they officially ran out of ideas, or they are copying the reverse retro program, who knows). Many of these are very good at least in the context of the CE program. Welcome back to many of these great designs.
Or . . . If you don’t like it, say so!
And what better place to say so than here?
100% agree on a uni to uni basis. It’s the “another merch dump!” “These are all bad because they are new and different” “stop making new unis, teams don’t need new unis” comments that lament the existence of new unis on some blanket principle that doesn’t make sense. We’re here because we like uni design, not to enforce some change resistant culture where every teams uni program operates like the Yankees.
I don’t think anyone on this site has ever said, “These are all bad because they are new and different.” Especially anyone on the staff.
In this article, Phil even says, “…in the early years of the program, a few teams introduced some absolutely outstanding uniforms, even if the majority were simply merch dump cash grabs.”
The question is, are the few good ones worth all of the lackluster merch dumps? Some people think so, some people don’t. You can agree to disagree without making the blanket statement that anyone who disagrees with your tastes doesn’t like any kind of change at all. Most of us just don’t like Change For Change’s Sake. I for one don’t mind change if it’s an improvement. If it isn’t, then there’s nothing wrong with the status quo.
good question by Jim, but the point remains – what would UW talk about if none of this was happening? most the content here is about new CCs (how many entries were about the new AZ ones?), City Editions, Statement Editions, new NFL program etc. if it’s worth the good designs or not, it’s keeping UW staff with things to write and talk about and engage with the comm-uni-ty. the lamenting is just a side effect of the sensibilities of the majority here
I wonder if the Wizards will pair the gold jerseys with black shorts.
Hah. I was thinking that too. I think those were adidas’ creation (definitely not Nike’s), so maybe Nike won’t be encouraging black shorts. But the thought definitely crossed my mind.
Would look nice, I think.
There is a difference in creating uniforms that will stand the test of time (or at least a few seasons) and spitting out variations of the same design with a full disregard of creativity, originality and team identity. Simply churning out merch dumps for the sake of selling fast and furiously is not creating uniforms with a certain aesthetic value aimed at a longer run of establishing or confirming a team identity.
Also, as has been said many times before by many people: we need the full uniform to appreciate or value the effort made by the designers. However, based on only the shown jerseys this edition of CE seems to have run out of original ideas completely.