Continuing what’s now become a new yearly tradition, the NBA has once again teamed up with Nike for another season of City Edition uniforms.
Highlighting the unique features of a team’s city—from famous buildings and landmarks to prominent figures and popular cultural icons and slogans—the uniforms offer up a playful piece of fan culture that’s completely unique to local communities across the country.
There’s a Brooklyn Nets “Spread Love” uniform that pays homage to Brooklyn’s own Notorious B.I.G. with a multicolor Coogi-like camo print along the edges, nodding to both Biggie’s penchant for the brand’s colorful sweaters and the cultural diversity in the borough, home to people of all races, religions, and ethnicities. A nod to Biggie’s hometown Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood can also be found on the bottom of the jersey, with the words “Bed-Stuy” printed above the jock tag.
A Minnesota Timberwolves uniform pays homage to the Twin Cities’ own hometown hero and musician, Prince, who would have turned 60 just this year. Working closely with the Prince estate, the team created the “Purple Rain” uniform, complete with Prince’s tonal purple color and several recognizable details from outfits Prince wore in many of his music videos throughout the years. The jersey’s Minnesota “Wolves” logo has been turned into the script lettering from the original Purple Rain album cover, a metallic graphic on the right shoulder mirrors the studs on Prince’s jacket, white accents throughout the jersey nod to Prince’s ruffled blouse, and a paisley graphic inside the shorts’ left vent that honors Prince’s first label, Paisley Park Records.
Other notable uniforms from the collection include a “Motor City” Detroit Pistons jersey, a “Miami Vice” Miami Heat uniform with the show’s famous neon pink and blue colors, and even a Rocky Balboa-themed Philadelphia Sixers uniform complete with the iconic 13-star boxing ring circle from Rocky’s first fight against Apollo Creed.
You can check out some of the uniforms below and view other city edition uniforms as they’re released throughout the week here.
