The NBA’s “City” edition jerseys are back. Most of the league’s alternates for the 2020 season have been revealed to this point and, just like every year, some are pretty fly, some are alright and some are hot garbage. We’re here to walk you through all of the ones that have dropped so far.
Being honest and truthful is a major part of our journalistic ethos. Expect nothing less here. What that means is that if your team’s jersey is really, really bad, expect it to get roasted.
With all that out of the way, let’s see what we have here.
These are pretty icy
Atlanta Hawks
You can’t spell icy without Ice Trae. Well, you actually can, but you get my point. These jerseys are clean — they do just enough. And they rep Georgia really well. I’m sold.
Denver Nuggets
The Denver mountain skyline with the rainbow background is perfection no matter what color jersey it’s on. This is an amazing flip.
Minnesota Timberwolves
That baby blue is so clean and the MSP font is perfect. The key to a great jersey is not doing too much and the Timberwolves clearly get that.
Portland Trail Blazers
Look. Anytime you throw “Rip City” or PDX on something related to Portland it’s going to work. Sorry. Those are the rules.
The vision is solid
Washington Wizards
Nike somehow managed to bring the Stars and Stripes Adidas design back from a few seasons ago. These are pretty clean. As the resident Wizards fan here, I approve.
Toronto Raptors
It’s hard to tell if this is great because of the OVO design or because of the fact that Drake’s long lost twin, Fred Van Vleet, is the one wearing the OVO designed jersey. Either way, they pass.
Phoenix Suns
The shorts are actually what really set this one apart. Everything else is super minimalist and then all of a sudden there’s a huge splash of Phoenix Sun on the leg. It’s brilliant.
Philadelphia 76ers
That cracked Liberty Bell on the shorts is an amazing touch on an otherwise clean jersey. They’re good.
Memphis Grizzlies
Alright, alright. Another retro. We’ve seen this before, but the effort is definitely respectable. Especially since the Grizzlies OG uniforms are easily some of the best ever.
Cleveland Cavaliers
These are solid. They’re super similar to the uniforms the Cavaliers wore during LeBron James’ last run in Cleveland, so they definitely get points for that wrinkle.
Chicago Bulls
These almost fell down to the “fine” tier but when I saw these I couldn’t help but think about how they’d look with the new Fearless Jordan 1 that recently dropped. So good.
Indiana Pacers
These actually WERE in the “fine” category but were moved up. The checkered flag was a bit jarring at first, but it’s honestly a great touch.
Yeah, these are just fine
LA Clippers
The font looks like it came straight out of Grand Theft Auto 5. It’s a fine jersey, but it’s not very creative at all. We’ve seen this before. It’s almost like they took the Enemies’ Big 3 jerseys and slapped Los Angeles on them.
LA Lakers
Shaq apparently designed these and it definitely looks like it. It’s more about the history of the Lakers than the actual design. It’s fine but yawn.
Orlando Magic
Really like the touch of orange that kind of represents Florida well. It just doesn’t look great on that black.
Houston Rockets
This jersey is a bit boring, but it does a great job of repping Houston with the H-Town on the chest. It also gives a tiny nod to the history of the city and the Johnson Space Center.
Uh, maybe next year
Brooklyn Nets
Alright, this take is a bit hot. But the Nets have kind of overplayed the whole Biggie and Coogi thing. Don’t get it twisted — Big is great. But he’s not the only rapper from Brooklyn.
Utah Jazz
Trying again next year means giving us something that is actually different next year. It looks like they just carried over last year’s jerseys to now.
Sacramento kings
Sactown is just a terrible nickname for a town. Wearing it on a jersey is just asking for jokes. We’re already underway and we haven’t even seen these on court yet.
Oklahoma City Thunder
This is exactly what the Hawks’ Peachtree jersey would look like if it were awful.
Detroit Pistons
The road lines streaking down the middle of the jersey just throw me off. Classic example of doing way too much.
Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee just, generally, needs a better city nickname because “Cream City” definitely is not it. I’m not super mad at these, but they can do better.
BURN THEM FOREVER
Boston Celtics
Listen, hating on the designer here is hard. The Celtics colors, in general, are just old and boring. But, fam. Green with a gold trim? That’s a no-no.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavs deserve to be relegated off of this alone. They’re really going to make Luka Doncic wear this. Unbelievable. I’m not going in again. I’ve already done it. Just get these out of here. Please.
