Nike's 75th NBA Anniversary Jerseys Take A Look Into Team's History

Source: Nike / NIke

NBA jerseys change with time making them emblems of moments in people’s lives. For many, seeing “Chicago” scrawled in cursive across a sea of red instantly brings them back to their childhood when a young Michael Jordan was soaring from the foul line in the 1987 NBA Dunk Contest with a neck full of gold and a head full of hair. Each jersey tells a story of an era of basketball or simply a moment in time when nothing else mattered but the hardwood gladiators. The NBA’s 75-year history can be charted by its jersey designs, which is why to commemorate its 75th anniversary, the NBA teamed up with its jersey partner Nike for a new slate of City Edition uniforms to tell 30 different team histories.

The NBA approached Nike about how they wanted to celebrate the 75th anniversary season roughly 2 1/2 to three year ago before deciding on honoring each team’s past while looking to their future. Nike worked directly with each team to figure out how they thought their team’s history would be best represented in fabric, transforming these jerseys into moving time capsules when on the court.

Diehard fans deepen their love of a team by diving into the franchise beyond the boxscore. When they think of title-contending Sacramento Kings of the early 2000s, they remember the team’s sixth man Bobby Jackson as much as they remember the team’s Hall of Fame Chris Webber. When they think of the New York Knicks of the ‘90s, Anthony Mason. The dedication is in the details, an ethos stitched into every 75th-anniversary jersey weaving a story unique to each team.

At first glance, the Raptors’ gold and black City edition jerseys harken back to the designs worn by the 2018-2019 team which one the franchise its only championship. Look closer and those jagged pinstripes will be recognizable to any longtime Raptors fan who remembers the team’s inaugural jerseys from the 1995-1996 season. Look even closer and you can the team’s dinosaur mascot from those same early jerseys donning the design of the championship team’s attire while looking behind it with the ball in front. The raptor’s head orientation is intentional as it signifies the organization looking to its future, according to Jesse Alvarez, Nike’s men’s product director. The closer you get to the jersey, the deeper you get into each team’s story.

“Chicago’s jersey is iconic for so many different reasons, but some of the sneaky details there are if you look at the diamond on the shorts. They’re known for the diamond on the shorts but when you go unclose to the shorts, you’ll see it has the Black and pinstripes. It’s a nod to who that organization is and their history,” Alvarez told CassiusLife.

Throughout the season, the home team will be able to decide when they want to showcase their 75th anniversary City edition jerseys. The Warriors will flank the Bay Bridge logo of its current dynastic generation with lightning bolts from the We Believe Warriors era of the late 2000s. The Cleveland Cavaliers will have its swashbuckling swordsman logo from the ’70s above the three white and four yellow dots at the bottom, which signify the order of wins and losses of the Cavaliers’ historic 3-1 comeback victory in the 2016 NBA Finals over the Golden State Warriors. Nike and the NBA hope these jerseys will do more than simply fly off shelves. They want them to unify people in story.

“It’s going to spark dialogue. Where did this logo come from? Where did that logo come from? It’s the opportunity to bridge generations.”

The jerseys hit retail on November 15 and are going to be on the court sooner than you think.

Get a better look at all the entire collection below: