Ranking Every NBA Teams’ “City” Jerseys
NBA city jerseys have taken us by storm. Engineered with creativity and pride, each NBA team crafted a jersey that is connected to their city. The merchandise is selling hot off the press before they even hit the racks. From court-side to nosebleeds, you’ll see fans throughout the arena representing their home team in new city gear.
The new looks have brought a unique vibe to the games and have given us another reason to tune in to late night NBA basketball or go see a game live. The players are even buzzing over the fresh city jerseys on social media.
Teams like the Miami Heat are all in on their city edition look, revamping the court to the display the Vice colors and logo.
On the other hand, some teams haven’t fully embraced their city theme to this extent. While the jerseys have been crushing it in sales and on social media, naturally we have our winners and losers.
Here is every NBA teams’ city edition jersey ranked from worst to best…
30. Indiana Pacers & 29. Memphis Grizzlies
The Pacers and the Grizzlies are like the 2 best friends that unintentionally wore the same outfit to club Friday night, and they both look awful. It’s hard to tell what look the 2 organizations were going for, but it’s far from appealing. The primary grey is stale and the navy and yellow as secondary colors aren’t enough to save these jerseys.
28. Milwaukee Bucks
We get the whole “Mecca Era” pride here, but this design is a mesh of colors that have no symmetry or pattern of any kind.
27. Dallas Mavericks
It would have been nice to see the Mavs get more creative. These jerseys are boring and lazy. Their city jerseys have their main logo in the center with no city relative designs added in the mix. The people of Dallas deserve better.
26. Phoenix Suns
This is extremely basic. The all purple jersey is clean but really doesn’t offer a unique dynamic or representation of the organization and city in any special way. While the suns pay tribute to the Latin American culture in their city jersey in back to back seasons, there is just nothing interesting about this look.
25. Orlando Magic
The Magic could of went so many different directions with their city edition jerseys, they’re throwback pin striped blue jerseys are classic and would have made a great foundation for their city edition designs. Instead, the Magic add another basic design to the list. The stars on the sides are a nice change from the old city jerseys, but it would have been nice to see the designers put a little magic into it this year.
24. San Antonio Spurs
Spurs went with the same design they wore last year. The coach pop inspired military look was cool last year, it would have been ideal to see the spurs to change it up a little this season.
23. Cleveland Cavaliers
Finally, we’re starting to reach the middle of the pack of quality with these Cavs city jerseys. The Lake Erie inspired design has a smooth color mix with the retro blue and orange. This look takes us back to the days of Larry Nance Sr. in the late 80’s earlier 90’s. These jerseys are the only thing going right for the Cavs this season.
22. Utah Jazz
The Jazz have a similar color concept to the Bucks jerseys, except they were able to add some direction and balance to their design. Because these are the same city jerseys the Jazz had last year, they lose serious points in inventiveness.
21. Detroit Pistons
This isn’t the first “Motor City” jersey by the Pistons; though it’s the best so far. The black jersey and grey lettering is simple, but with the racing stripes added down the middle we’re able to get a touch of originality. These jerseys are true to the city of Detroit and give a shout-out to their leading automotive industry.
20. Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers had their inaugural season in 1984, the same year LA hosted the Olympics. We have to hand it to the Clippers for pulling this concept out of their bag as many NBA fans forgot about their history.
19. Boston Celtics
While the Celtics went a little half a** on their city jerseys this year, it’s still a clean look that represents the Celtic culture and Boston pride at its finest.
18. Los Angeles Lakers
These jerseys were not only a tribute to Magic Johnson; they apparently were designed by him as well. The new look Lakers are selling a ton of city edition merch, largely thanks to LeBron James, nevertheless the franchise deserves credit for this successful twist of the Lakers current purple uniforms.
17. Washington Wizards
The District of Columbia on the front and the Washington monument on the sides; this jersey is a spot on representation of the Capital.
16. Atlanta Hawks
The 50th anniversary edition city jerseys are a hit in Atlanta. The black and gold are the right colors for the tribute, plus the bird feathers running down the sides makes this jersey complete.
15. Portland Trailblazers
Everything “Rip City” related is a win for the franchise, the fans eat it up. The design this year is smooth and lustrous.
14. Charlotte Hornets
These city jerseys are bold. The teal pops with the black jersey and looks crisp. With Buzz City on the front of this jersey, the Hornets can count this city edition jersey as one of their best jerseys yet.
13. Philadelphia 76ers
I’m a fan of the Rocky inspired city edition jerseys. I can already imagine Rocky Balboa throwing combinations at the frozen meat. The sweat suit look is a strong representation of Philly grit and determination that it takes to go from underdogs to champions. Also, the 13 stars around the center of the jerseys also pay homage to American history by illustrating the first national flag of the United States. The Sixers have quickly become one of the leaders in jersey sales this year with this city edition.
12. New York Knicks
The Knicks need all the help they can get; fortunately their city jerseys are something the Knicks fans can get excited about. The sleek skyline stripes on the sides of the jerseys combine the modern and traditional elements of the team.
11. Chicago Bulls
With the Chicago flag incorporated into the city edition jerseys, the Bulls found the most accurate way to represent the heart of the city and come up with a fresh design to tie it all together.
10. Sacramento Kings
The baby blue has been a staple for the Kings. The used it with their city jersey last year and it’s another success this year as well. While I prefer last years’ lion to this years’ “sactown”, this is still a win.
9. Golden State Warriors
It’s hard for the Dubs to mess this up with the all options they have with throwbacks and alternate jerseys to spin off of. Honoring the Chinese community in the Bay Area has always gone well for the Warriors, this time was no different. The letter and numeral fonts put an additional Chinese element to the jersey that makes a worthy finishing touch.
8. New Orleans Pelicans
They can’t go wrong with the Mardi Gras theme. The color scheme is vivacious and the Nola lettering on the front is hallmark to New Orleans.
7. Oklahoma City Thunder
Honoring the Native American culture, OKCs electric turquoise color city edition jerseys might be the best jerseys in franchise history. The tribal designs mixed with the lettering and sprinkled throughout the uniforms are on point.
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5. Minnesota Timberwolves
Paying respects to Purple Rain & Prince has been a big win for the wolves. The Minnesota legend is long from being forgotten as the Wolves win big hometown bonus points for coming up with this design. In addition, the numbers on this jersey depict the intertwining tails of Wolves, adding a clever team element to the jerseys.
4. Toronto Raptors
Honoring Drake was the perfect idea. The OVO inspired Toronto city edition jerseys gives Toronto an identity that anyone in the US or Canada can relate to. At this point Drake is a hometown hero, the timing to pay homage was just right .
3. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets brought back their retro mountain rainbow jerseys with a modern spin, and they couldn’t be better. This is by far the best Nuggets uniform in the last decade or so.
2. Brooklyn Nets
With hip hop tied to basketball culture, there was no better move for the Nets than making their city edition jerseys a tribute to Biggie. The king of hip hop and Brooklyn are synonymous with one another. Brooklyn was part of Biggies identity; putting his signature Coogi sweater pattern on the sides of the jersey is epic. If it wasn’t for this next team, the Nets would have the best city jersey in the league.
1. Miami Heat
This is a no brainer. The Miami Heat Vice city jerseys are the face of the trend. The Vice jerseys are blowing every other team away in sales and have many fans campaigning to make this the new primary uniform for the Heat. Just when you thought the Heat couldn’t top the Vice jersey last season, all they do is add black this season and it’s the biggest hit of the year. The vibrant neon blue and pink pop on the black jerseys; the colors have been ingrained in Miami culture for generations and it’s nice to see them represented with the best professional sports team in the city.