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Reading: NBA Teams Had To Wear White Home Jerseys Because Away Teams Did Not Have Laundry Facilities So They Wear Darker Jerseys To Hide Dirt And Other Stains
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Home > NBA News & Analysis > NBA Teams Had To Wear White Home Jerseys Because Away Teams Did Not Have Laundry Facilities So They Wear Darker Jerseys To Hide Dirt And Other Stains

NBA Teams Had To Wear White Home Jerseys Because Away Teams Did Not Have Laundry Facilities So They Wear Darker Jerseys To Hide Dirt And Other Stains

The reason that NBA teams have to wear white home jerseys is because away teams wore dark jerseys to hide stains on road trips since they couldn't do laundry.

Divij Kulkarni
Dec 31, 2022
3 Min Read
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Credit: Fadeaway World

The NBA is mostly about the players and the teams that make the league what it is, but there are also a lot of unique things that don’t get talked about enough. The jerseys teams wear are an important aspect of the game; fans always have a lot to say about how their team looks. Certain jerseys get a lot of love, while fans also aren’t afraid to bash a design if they don’t like it very much. 

One of the more common themes across the league is teams having a white jersey. The white jerseys are used for home games, with the opposition expected to wear something darker in contrast. And while this rule may seem a bit arbitrary, it came into existence thanks to something interesting. 

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“The reason NBA teams have the white home jersey rule is because in the early days most away teams did not have laundry facilities so they would wear darker jerseys to hide dirt and other stains.”

Back in the day, teams embarking on long road trips wouldn’t have the opportunity to regularly do their laundry. And considering how important it is to the NBA that teams wear crisp and clean jerseys, wearing darker colors made sense. Which dictated that the home team should wear white. And while this isn’t something that comes up often, an interesting incident on this front regarding the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder did occur quite recently.


The Memphis Grizzlies Had To Change Their White Jerseys After They Clashed With The Thunder’s Jerseys

Earlier in 2022, the Oklahoma City Thunder faced off against the Memphis Grizzlies, and both teams came out in white, leading to the Grizzlies being asked to change before the game could begin. 

Soooooo both teams are wearing white jerseys…

brb gotta make a jersey change pic.twitter.com/ErXdURxRKd

— Grizzlies On FanDuel Sports Network (@FDSN_Grizzlies) March 13, 2022

Things like this would slip the notice of fans on an average day; there is so much else to talk about. But the league has evolved in many ways during the nearly 80 years of its existence, meaning that a lot of rules came to be through some fun trial and error. Ultimately, the tweaks the NBA has made to its product have made it one of the most popular leagues in the world, and this savviness means it will only keep growing. 

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ByDivij Kulkarni
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Divij Kulkarni is an NBA columnist for Fadeaway World. He has covered the NBA and the English Premier League, with 4 years of experience in creating sports content. Finding exciting and intriguing content about all things NBA is both his job and his passion. Divij loves the Dallas Mavericks and can be regularly observed getting emotional during games. Outside of basketball, he enjoys reading fantasy and sci-fi novels, consuming copious amounts of movies and TV, and spending time with his dog, Olivia. Expertise: NBA, Historical Sports ResearchFavorite Team: Dallas MavericksFeatured On HoopsHype, Sports Illustrated, Secret Base, MSNPrevious Work: Tribuna
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