Orlando Magic Home Jerseys 2008-2009

The Orlando Magic is seen by a lot of NBA pundits as the team of the future as its All-Star center Dwight Howard has yet to celebrate his 25th birthday. Also, the core of Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson are brimming with youth. Thus, a forward-looking jersey seems to be in order for them.

The design of the jersey innovates the usually bland pinstripe implementation with a radiating set of stripes in front, which gives the jersey a dynamic look-- it makes the wearer some sort of body definition with the way the stripes draw your eyes. The neck hole is highlighted by what seems to be a cross between the usual round neck and a v-neck, which is pretty weak if you ask me.

As for the other elements in the jersey's design, the font is appropriate and in line with the modern theme, ans the black tapering stripe looks a bit off, if you ask me.

The Orlando Magic jersey is looks sleek and modern, but has some issues on the details.


Tags: Orlando Magic

2009 NBA All-Star Game Jerseys

The jersey design for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix diverges from the trend in the previous years when the theme of the jersey design has something to do with the host city. (In the last NBA All-Star Game held in Phoenix, Arizona, there was a big cactus emblazoned on the jersey. Seriously.)

The design for this year's game is very futuristic, from the font used in the team name and numbers, but also in the detailing. Jerseys rarely use gradients incorporated in the design, but this one uses gradients on the sides (a design similar to the Dallas Mavericks.)

I really like the execution of the design for this one-- it's modern, sleek, and, looks good on the basketball court. It erases the bad memories from the jerseys they used in the 2008 NBA All-Star Game.


Tags: NBA All-Star Game

Sacramento Kings Away Jerseys 2008-2009

The Sacramento Kings aren't exactly NBA royalty right now, with a losing record and a core of players that aren't geared to compete in the long term Their jerseys are a different story.

The current design, does communicate, although not so strongly, the quality of royalty, with snobbish colors of purple and black, plus the tapering bands on the side of the jersey look like a couple of knight's lances. However, the font used on the jersey reminds me of an elitist king, rather than a might conqueror.

The jersey features a black collar with a crown icon on the back, which coincides with the trend of placing the team's logo on the back, above the player's name. The neck holes don't feature a lining, but complements the "lances."

Over-all the Sacramento Kings jersy is well designed, but in the basketball context, is pretty weak, much like the team.


Tags: Sacramento Kings

New Orleans Hornets Home Jerseys 2008-2009

This is my first post that talks about a team I've blogged about before. And that team is the New Orleans Hornets . :)

The Hornets have not been hot this early in the season, but their new threads are. If you look at the previous design, it was pretty plain, which was a disconnect to what New Orleans (and its popular Mardi Gras festival) was all about. The new jersey design now takes a different route-- it has multi-colored pin stripes and wider bands. The teal color stands out, and the purple is a bit understated. The gold has taken a backseat in this design though. This uniform reminds me of the old Charlotte Hornets unifroms, with the pin-stripes and narrow fonts.

The design will work because it's New Orleans. But if you take this design to, say Utah, it loses its flavor.


Tags: New Orleans Hornets

Oklahoma City Thunder Away Jersey 2008-2009

The new kid on the NBA block is actually The Artist Formerly Known as the Seattle Supersonics.

The Oklahoma City Thunder may contain familiar faces like Kevin Durant and Desmond Mason, but the team literally now looks different. Gone are the iconic Seattle Sonic Green, and the franchise brought in Light Blue, Orange, Navy Blue, Gold, which not pretty bad colors.

However, once those colors get together with the jersey's rather straightforward design, the result is pretty weak. This jersey reminds me of the old Detroit Pistons jersey in the mid-1990's. The main culprit here is the Light Blue color. It's shade and hue are too weak for professional sports and the pencil-thin linings on the neck and arm holes don't give the jersey much attitude.

If you ask me, the only good thing about this basketball jersey is the font used for the front text and numbers. It probably doesn't help that the team wanted to put "Oklahoma City" in full because it really needs a narrow font.

The Thunder aren't expected to make waves in the NBA this season. That's good because we'll see less of this basketball jersey.


Tags: Oklahoma City Thunder

Minnesota Timberwolves Home Jersey 2008-2009

I still can't believe the Minnesota Timberwolves traded away Kevin Garnett. But that was ages ago and things have to move on, right?

So, what perfect time to change the team's image all together. The T-wolves are rebuilding around cornerstone Al Jefferson and another Kevin-- Kevin Love. The team is now espousing a more grind-it-out inside offense and hopefully the energy would carry over into the defensive end.

As far as what the team is wearing on the basketball court, the T-Wolves have also made a change. Gone are the uniforms with the campy simple design, and in are the modern looking basketball jerseys.

The design takes something from the original home jersey design of the 1990's. The word "WOLVES" is emblazoned in front, instead of the complete Timberwolves team name. The details are nice-- the shapes in front and back of the neck give the illusion that its a v-neck. For me, they remind me of the wolf's fangs The the big green pine tree image on the sides plus the blue swoosh give a sharp, firm look. Perhaps it's a homage to the team's new philosophy of dominating the inside.

The new Minnesota Timberwolves jersey is quite timely, and hopefully this change will translate to a positive change on the hard court.


Tags: Minnesota Timberwolves

Los Angeles Clippers Alternate Away Jersey 2007-2008

The Los Angeles Clippers can be argued as the franchise not worth emulating-- they have a losing record for the franchise (.365 as of this writing), they have reached the playoffs only four times since moving to Los Angeles in 1984 and their roster seem to be in a constant state of flux. This summer, they added Baron Davis and Marcus Camby, but lost stalwart Elton Brand and versatile swingman Corey Magette in the process.



This mediocrity seem to be reflecting on the team's jersey. The Clippers have a very standard sports motif-- red, white and blue. The alternate away jersey uses the blue as the base color and the white is solely used as the detailing for the neck and arm holes, as well as the strips on the side. This lining is thick enough to accommodate the alternative Los Angeles Clippers logo on the v-neck tip on the front side.



The design is quite strong as the thick linings and the fonts for the numbers and player name are bold and would exude strength. The weakness is in the front-side "Los Angeles" as it seems lost in the shuffle. The white bands on the sides are pretty weak in my opinion.



The Los Angeles Clippers are looking to change their fortunes this season-- they probably need to look at what they are wearing on court as well.





Tags: Los Angeles Clippers