Since Nike swooped up the NBA official apparel licensing from adidas two years back they’ve been pushing out hella new league merch. Normally we’d see Home, Away and Alternative jerseys from every NBA squad; but Nike took things one step further with a fourth jersey look dubbed the “City Edition” series.
The goal of this collection is to draw inspiration from the local community of each NBA city. Some teams’ themes are easier to spot than others, but the premise of the collection has been thoughtfully executed at the end of the day. Since the NBA Playoffs are inching closer to ending we wanted to take look back at the teams that rocked the best City Edition jerseys during the 2018-19 season. With 32 total teams in the league not every franchise could land a spot on our list.
Peep our top-10 list below and let us know what City Edition jersey you’re rockin’ with in the comments below!
Honorable Mentions
Cavs
You’d think these were inspired by the Hardwood Classics Cavs jerseys of the ’80s, but they actually pay homage to Lake Erie. The jersey’s print also mimics the signage welcoming visitors to the lake. Nothing crazy, just clean.
Magic
Throw on some Galaxy Foamposites and you’d have a winning fit right here. We dig the thematic choices here. Magic Kingdom –> Disney –> NSAS –> Space… it makes sense and looks good.
Top-10
10) Thunder
Nike N7 vibes times 3,000. The Thunder’s City Edition kit celebrates Oaklahoma’s Native American population and heritage. The shades are close OKC’s normal garb but with an elevated look. The print is on point too.
9) Pelicans
Mardi Gras…
Beads…
Boobs…
Basketball…
S/O to Weezy and Curren$y cus the NBA did them right with these clean, simple and colorful jerseys.
8) Lakers
The Lakers showed all kinds of love to L.A. legend, Magic Johnson, with their City Edition look; but after Magic’s sudden departure from Los Angeles’s front office there might be some design changes on the horizon. Pin stripes are always on jerseys, and the Lakers took that concept and ran with it. These aren’t normal stripes – they’re actually listing Magic’s 3 league MVPs and 5 championship rings.
7) Raptors
Saying less does more, and the Raptors won in the jersey department deploying that ethos. Obviously there’s some Drake vibes with the color scheme, but Toronto didn’t blast it. The triangular peak design speaks to the Raptors’s geographical placement, you know, they’re the most northern NBA franchise in the association. We the North, Winter is Coming, yada yada. Executional excellence.
6) Nuggets
5,000 feet above sea level, baby! We loved the Nugget’s get-up all season because they’re new and old at the same time. Anyone that saw the ’80’s version of the Nuggets run can see how the 2018-19 Nugs re-hashed their look to create outstanding, modern, jerseys. You just can’t beat those classic Nuggets colors people.
5) Rockets
Soooo…. yeahhh…. the Rocket’s jersey is supposed to have that ‘good luck’ Chinese vibe… we saw how that went against the Warriors though… awkward… With looks inspired by Chinese formalwear, these City Editions rocked even though the Rockets didn’t in the end. Anyone else picking up some Akatuski vibes? We’re suckers for anime (yes we know it’s Japanese and not Chinese) so we had to rank these bad boys highly.
4) Nets
The Nets got a Hip-Hop inspired City Edition jersey commemorating Booklyn’s finest, The Notorious B.I.G. Bill Cosby never looked as fly as Biggy in his quintessentially ’90’s sweater. The Nets payed homage to Biggy by using sweater print pipping on the sides of these tope jerseys. If you don’t know, now you know…
3) Jazz
The state of Utah isn’t known for being the hippest group of people around, but that didn’t stop the Jazz from rocking some serious City Edition heat. If you’ve been to the South West of the US, then you know about the shades of red and orange that dress the region’s desert landscape. The Jazz took those colors and turned them into a gradual fade that perfectly captures the spirt of Utah’s Red Rock desert. No doubt these jerseys are the most swaggy Utah clothing export of all-time.
2) T-Wolves
Purple Rain, Purple Rain. Minnesota took the spirt of their greatest artist, Prince, and ran with it in a Little Red Corvette. The shade of purple Minny chose was spot on, tasteful, faithful and well executed. Wins across the board (that font is dummy dope too)!
1) Heat
Pretty obvious inspiration right? It doesn’t matter one bit though because Miami won the jersey war this season. We’d argue these are the cleanest jersey seen in the 2018-19 season, period. Miami’s color scheme is so well known and so famous that the Heat had to run with this look. Perfect, simply perfect. Now all we need in a GTA ‘Vice City’ remake and we’ll be set.