Nike unveils City Edition uniforms for NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament

For the seventh time since becoming the league’s apparel sponsor in 2016, Nike collaborated with the NBA on its annual City Edition uniforms for all 30 teams.

On Thursday, Nike unveiled the uniforms, which will be worn during the league’s inaugural in-season tournament, which tips off this Friday and will run until the championship game on Dec. 9.

“We are continuing the tradition of building between court, community and culture with all 30 teams on our City Edition platform,” said Nadia Roohparvar, the NBA’s team brand and product lead. “The City Edition uniforms will be worn on court during all NBA in-season tournament nights — a really great platform to showcase and highlight some of our really amazing City Edition work.”

Earlier this week, the NBA unveiled mockups of the court designs that each team’s arena will feature for the in-season tournament games, all inspired by the storytelling that went into crafting the uniforms.

“It’s truly amazing to see the growth of the City Edition program over the past seven seasons and how the majority of our teams have taken these stories and brought them to life in arenas through their court designs,” said Hallie Keselman, the equipment and team product lead for NBA events.

Ahead of the tournament, Roohparvar detailed the genesis of the City Edition uniform designs for eight teams — the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns.

Boston Celtics

“The Boston Celtics are one of the longest-standing teams in the NBA. This year, they’re going back to their roots, weaving together the history of the game and its creators. So, you’ll see a lot of different inspirations tying back to the origins of the game, even as far back as the 1890s, with the peach basket.

“That wood grain texture you see in the panel is reflective of some of the furniture makers and the iconic marks from that post-Reconstruction era in Boston. The belt buckle also features an old-school basketball with a clover inside.”

Chicago Bulls

“The Bulls are paying tribute to the first arena that they won their first three-peat in — Chicago Stadium, or as we call it, lovingly, ‘The Madhouse on Madison.’ ”

“Some visual inspiration ties directly to the architecture of the arena, first through the vertical Chicago that’s reflective of the sign fans would see when they walked into the stadium to go support their team that was winning championships back to back to back. That offset asymmetry is balanced on the left of the short with an enlarged diamond mark. Nike and the Bulls oversized that diamond and put within it a hand-painted bull.”

Denver Nuggets

“The Denver Nuggets are a team that literally sits above the rest at an altitude of 5,280 feet, or one mile above sea level. In the pursuit of their 2023 NBA championship, the Nuggets were very much leaning into this narrative, and fans were supportive of the altitude and attitude of that roster. The blue topographical line pattern of the mountains is inspired by their historical skyline rainbow jerseys.”

Detroit Pistons

“If you watched the Detroit Pistons in the late ’80s and early ’90s, you definitely know of the Bad Boys. That is what the team is harkening back to this year — the original Bad Boys mark, with the skull and the crossbones. You’ll also see some signals to Chuck Daly, who led them to their back-to-back championships in ’89 and ’90, through the CD2 mark and his signature below the jock tag.”

Golden State Warriors

“The Warriors are in their fifth season in San Francisco, and what better way to pay homage to their city than with the cable car? So, there is a lot of really cool detail here that ties back to the historic cable cars and even how you see them today in the Bay Area.”

“The San Francisco wordmark climbs up the jersey, in the same way you see a cable car climbing up the hills in San Francisco. Then, there’s a lot of trolley insignia in other places — above the jock tag, and on the short in the belt buckle placement, there’s the cable wheel itself. The fonts pull inspiration from the old route signs of the cable cars themselves.”

Los Angeles Lakers

“Los Angeles is the city of dreams, and their City Edition uniforms symbolize how those dreams and the team’s identity have evolved over the last six decades. The all-black uniform reflects when the team moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in the ’60s.

“There’s an LAL mark on the waistband, in the same triangular fashion that ties to their team name and ‘Leave a Legacy,’ which is the team’s tagline.”

Milwaukee Bucks

“Back when this uniform was being designed in the summer of 2021, the Bucks were in pursuit of their first championship in over 50 years. And so, we are excited to showcase this uniform as an homage to the Deer District and their fans that helped propel them to where they got in 2021.”

“The base color of the uniform is Great Lakes blue, harkening back to the lake landscape in Milwaukee. The splattered pattern is actually inspired by an aerial shot of the top of the fans’ heads in the crowd of the Deer District. So, it’s a really cool way to tie back to the fans and say thank you to them.”

Phoenix Suns

“Mexican culture runs deep in Phoenix, both off and on the court. And this year’s City Edition uniform for the Suns pays tribute to that culture, as well as the team’s Chicano fan base.

“The Valley uniforms for the Suns were fan favorites for the last couple of seasons. So, this year, they’re revamping it and showcasing the Valley in ‘El Valle.’ This uniform celebrates low-rider culture and the art of rolling bajito y suavecito, which means low and slow in English. In addition to the midnight purple base, orchid purple trim and the accents in turquoise piping, the valley-inspired gradient is featured in the numbers and side panel. Also in the side panel is an ornate trim and piping reflective of the low-rider cars the uniforms pay tribute to.”