A Recap of the Denver Nuggets Uniform Unveiling

Written by Zeke Perez Jr.

Sports fans have a unique connection to uniforms. Perhaps it’s simply the ability for us to feel like part of the team by wearing what the players wear. It’s not uncommon for sports fans to have a lucky jersey, or at least a favorite jersey, and if you look around the stands of any given game for every sport, you’ll see that the seats are packed with folks wearing theirs.
 
Sports uniforms have played an important and ever-present role in my fandom. There are pictures of six-year-old me playing putt-putt golf in a full-blown Rockies uniform, high socks with baseball pants and all. The Denver Broncos won their first Super Bowl soon after changing logos and redesigning their jerseys, and I proudly owned John Elway and Terrell Davis replicas in that new Broncos’ blue. All I wanted to do with my paychecks from my first job as a teenager was save up to buy a throwback Quebec Nordiques sweater. When the Denver Nuggets traded for Allen Iverson on December 19th, 2006, an A.I. Nuggets jersey shot up to the top of my Christmas wish list. The examples go on and on (my closet can attest to that). I’m always excited to see what the new gear looks like when teams redesign, so I was very eager to attend the Denver Nuggets public jersey unveiling yesterday.
 
The NBA is switching uniform suppliers for the upcoming season, moving from Adidas to Nike. With that comes a new slate of uniforms for all 30 teams. Each team will have at least four jerseys: the ‘Icon’, ‘Association’, and two alternates dubbed the ‘Athlete Mindset’ and ‘Community’ (locally inspired). The ‘Icon’ and ‘Association’ will be team-colored and white, respectively. Whereas teams have traditionally worn white at home and colors on the road, those designations are gone under the new Nike system. Instead, the home team will choose which jersey to wear for each game.
 
Of the new ‘Icon’ and ‘Association’ jerseys released thus far, there is a solid mix of teams sticking with designs close to what they were already wearing (e.g. Blazers, Bulls, Kings, Wizards) and teams trying something new (e.g. Cavs, Nuggets, Pacers). Alternates have not yet been released for any team, so time will tell whether those will resemble alternates used in the Adidas template or be something completely new and different. Additionally, eight teams (Bucks, Hawks, Heat, Hornets, Lakers, Pacers, Suns, and Warriors) will get a fifth jersey option – a ‘Classic’ or throwback jersey. It’s unfortunate that only eight teams will get throwbacks this year, especially since so many teams not on that short list have outstanding vintage jerseys. 

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To continue the rollout of Nike’s new uniforms, about a hundred-plus Mile High basketball fans filed into the Denver Performing Arts Complex to see the Nuggets’ official unveiling. After entertainment from Supermascot Rocky, the Denver Nuggets Dancers, the Sky-Line Drumline, and the Elevation Dunk Squad, the focus turned to a stage in the plaza where Gary Harris and Darrell Arthur modeled the jerseys.
 
The Nuggets are shifting away from the powder blue they’ve worn since 2003, opting for a darker shade of navy blue. The old light blue still exists as an outline for the ‘DENVER’ wordmark and as part of the stripe on the side of the jersey. The Nuggets are continuing their recent trend of having the lettering and numbering rendered in two different colors, with yellow letters/white numbers on the blue jerseys and yellow letters/blue numbers on the white jersey. The collars on both new uniforms are quite well done, with the blue jersey featuring a white collar with gold trim and the white jersey featuring a navy collar with gold trim. The side panels and stripes really pop too, especially on the shorts which feature the Nuggets pickaxe logo. Two crossed pickaxes can be seen on the waistbands as well, cementing waistband logos as a key Nike jersey element.
 
The most infamous addition to the Nuggets’ jerseys, and to jerseys throughout the NBA, is the inclusion of advertisements. The Nuggets partnered with Western Union as their local sponsor, so each jersey features a ‘WU’ patch on the left chest area. The executives releasing the jersey also championed the addition of the ‘5280’ that is stitched above the jersey’s jock tag as a way to connect to the city. On paper, it’s a cool jersey element, but it won’t matter much on the court as that part of the jersey will be tucked into the shorts anyway. One thing Nike deserves credit for is that each jersey is made from about 20 recycled plastic bottles. A good move from Nike and the league.
 
I enjoyed the event, but as for the jerseys themselves, I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed. The uniforms do look very clean, but perhaps even on the verge of being too plain. The Nuggets could have easily boasted the best uniforms in the entire NBA had they gone with the ‘Rainbow Skyline’ throwbacks they wore last season, or at least some adaptation of those. Here’s hoping that they bring the skyline back with one of the two alternates. I sort of like the shift to navy, but I really liked the powder blue, so the new shade will take some time to get used to. It’s growing on me already. As for other fans? Not so much…the response to the jerseys at the event itself was mixed, but the response on social media has been extremely negative (as social media tends to be). There are two Nuggets jerseys and a bundle from other teams that are yet to be released; fingers crossed for a good looking basketball season!

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