NBA City Edition Jersey Grades

Anticipation surrounding the Nike ‘City Edition’ jerseys grew greater and greater over the months from their announcement to their release. While there was certainly some interesting and… oh what’s the word… different… jersey designs. Simply put, some were good and some were bad. Like really bad. So here are our grades for some of the Nike City Edition jerseys.

*Since it would take too long to list and grade the jersey for every NBA team we will be grading the best three jerseys along with the worst three jerseys.*

The Best

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Miami Heat – The ‘Miami nights’ theme for the Heat’s City Edition uniforms could not have looked better. The florescent pink and powder blue look like something right out of Miami Vice and the 'Miami' script across the front of the jersey pays homage to the old Miami arena. This jersey epitomizes the city of Miami perfectly, which is exactly what Nike was going for when introducing the City Edition jersey concept.

Grade: A

Milwaukee Bucks – It’s about time the ‘Cream City’ got a cream jersey. The Bucks cream colored jersey represents the clay found in the Menomonee River Valley, which was used to form the bricks that were used to build many of the historic buildings in downtown Milwaukee. The blue and green stripes – which represent Wisconsin’s lush landscape and Milwaukee’s location on the shore of Lake Michigan – bring your attention to the Buck head which sits in the center of the jersey, a featured that was taken from the Buck’s wildly popular black statement jerseys. The Buck’s city jerseys perfectly summarize Milwaukee while looking sleek.

Grade: A-

Chicago Bulls – Chicago’s new City Edition jerseys take the old 1990’s Bull’s jerseys and add a modern twist. The jerseys use the cursive font to display ‘Chicago’ across the front of the jersey – a look made popular by the Michael Jordan era Chicago Bulls teams. But rather than the historic black and red color scheme, the new Bulls uniforms combines the historic look of the Chicago Bulls with the historic Chicago City flag. The jersey features the powder blue used for the flag and displays the five red stars along the side of the uniform. The way Chicago was able to incorporate two classics look – while making it look good – earns them a high grade.

Grade: A-

The Worst

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Oklahoma City Thunder – The Oklahoma City Thunder jerseys are a casualty of simply trying to hard – or not trying hard enough. There are a very few teams that can make a grey jersey look good. There are NO teams that can make multiple shades of grey at the same time look good. The only thing more perplexing than the light-to-dark grey gradient is perhaps the orange and blue stripes that wrap around the side of the uniform. Or is it the neon yellow that encompasses the numbers? Either way, it looks like a jersey that you see on a ‘create your own team’ in NBA 2K.

Grade: D-

Brooklyn Nets – A lack a creativity is the biggest downfall for the new Brooklyn Nets city uniforms. The idea was nice, the wording ‘Brooklyn Nets’ is written across the front of the jersey arching in symbolism of the Brooklyn Bridge while white pinstripes run from top to bottom – also symbolizing the wires that run down the Brooklyn Bridge. The problem with the Net’s jerseys is that they too closely resemble the usual Brooklyn uniforms. The lone differences between the jerseys are the addition of ‘Nets’ to the front of the jersey – a feature that makes the front look overcrowded – and small pinstripes that are too small to see unless you are on the court. City jerseys were meant to be an initiative that allowed teams to go crazy with jersey designs and Brooklyn dropped the ball by designing a uniform that too closely resembles an

already bland uniform.

Grade: C-

Utah Jazz – The new Utah Jazz uniforms are the exact opposite of the Net’s, they’re a little too crazy. The Jazz decided to go all out with their new city uniforms by rolling out a design that they felt incorporated the natural beauty of Southern Utah. The red rocks in Moab and Zion National Park have drawn visitors from all over the world. The one problem is that they are just that; red. Not the blue and gold which is the current Jazz color scheme. So when the Jazz released images of their new city jerseys which feature a yellow-to-orange-to-red-to-maroon color gradient – something that resembles the jerseys of the Phoenix Suns and the shorts of the Miami Heat – they were instantly polarizing. People either love or hate the new Jazz uniforms, I just happen to hate them.

Grade: F

Just Can’t Decide

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Orlando Magic – The Magic’s design at one moment looks cool and unique and the next moment looks cheap and tacky. The use of solely the logo on the front of the jersey resembles a practice jersey but the galaxy design on the black jerseys is an intriguing look.

Sacramento Kings – The King's color scheme looks fantastic. The powder blue paired with the red and white accents is a good look and the lion logo is one of the best logos in sports. But similar to the Magic, when only using the logo on the front of the jersey you walk a thin line between a phenomenal design and a practice jersey.