NBA Uni Watch: Leaked Warriors Jerseys, Fresh Looks in Houston and OKC
Several NBA teams have leaked or released new jersey designs. While uniforms for the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, and Oklahoma City Thunder have changed, it doesn’t always mean they’ve improved. Are these changes improving uniforms? Or are they nothing more than a cash grab by NBA teams?
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors have gone through a transition both on and off the court. They lost Kevin Durant to Brooklyn but were able to trade for D’Angelo Russell. With Klay Thompson recovering from an ACL tear, it’ll be much harder for the Warriors to make the finals for a sixth straight year.
Golden State will witness changes off the court as well. For 38 years, the team played in Oakland. This year, the Warriors are moving to the brand-new Chase Center in San Francisco. As part of the move, they’ve made several tweaks to the logo and uniform. In June, the Warriors slightly updated their logo. They changed the font and redesigned the logo’s Golden Gate Bridge to look more accurate.
Last week, pictures of the new uniform leaked. Many of the new designs only have minor changes. On the blue uniform, the Warriors updated the logo and switched the use of blue and gold. Their other uniforms have similar small tweaks. The basic uniform is the same but some stripe colors and logo designs are slightly updated.
The new uniform for the Warriors is “The Bay” uniform. In the past, the Warriors wore uniforms with logos representing “The City” (San Francisco) and “The Town” (Oakland). The Warriors are now adding a uniform with a new logo representing the San Francisco Bay area.
The Warrior’s uniforms looked good before, but the minor tweaks are improvements. For example, switching the blue and gold on the blue uniform’s logo makes the logo stand out more. However, “The Bay” unis seem like a marketing ploy in an attempt to keep long-time Oakland fans happy while the team moves to San Francisco.
Houston Rockets
Last month, the Rockets unveiled new uniforms, which involved several tweaks that simplified the design and changed the font. Houston replaced its gray jerseys with black ones. They also added a throwback jersey to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their first NBA championship.
We think these uniforms are well-done. They are simple but effective, using clean lines and matching colors well. Adding a black uniform will be popular with fans. Plus, the classic uniform will be really popular as it represents a great era of Houston sports.
Our only complaint involves the jersey numbers. The throwback uni uses the old font for each name and number. However, the numbers on the new jerseys look thin, especially in comparison with the “Rockets” lettering above the number. The size should’ve been similar to the throwback jersey.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder released four new jerseys. Most notable is the “City” edition designed with help from the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. This jersey honors the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. In addition to the jersey, OKC will fund a new permanent exhibit at the museum and provide free admission to the public for one month in 2020.
This jersey contains many smaller design elements that represent Oklahoma City citizens and the memorial itself. Overall, the uniform is a great way to honor the victims of the bombing and promote the museum’s values of service, honor, and kindness.
The rest of the uniforms have several design changes. The white and blue jerseys swapped the words “Oklahoma City” and “Thunder.” Other small details were added, like new trim colors. An Oklahoma state outline is added to the white uniform’s shorts. The Thunder also brought back their orange “sunset” uniform and added blue trim for the first time.
While the changes look good, the color scheme is still not great. The colors feel too bright and don’t match as well as other teams. Also, the “OKC” logo on the sunset uniform doesn’t look good. The tweaks make the uniform better, but a change in the color scheme would really make a difference.
