Excitement for the 2023-24 season has really picked up going into opening night. In Los Angeles, Lakers fans are feeling good about their chances for the title but most of them are struggling to get behind this year’s new city edition uniforms. After an apparent leak online, fans from all over gathered to express their displeasure with the new look.
Rumor: The Lakers “City Edition” jerseys have reportedly been leaked.
Thoughts? 👀
(via @itstheshorts) pic.twitter.com/aKbdtsBtrK
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) October 21, 2023
The design features a rather simplistic look, with the city name creating a kind of triangle shape over the player number. The stripes on the sleeves and neck are also done in typical Lakers style. Really, the biggest difference is in the color scheme, which changes from the traditional purple, gold, and white color pallet into a darker tone that features gold lettering with a black backdrop. While maybe not a bad-looking jersey on its own, it lacks a certain level of creativity we’ve seen in the past and betrays the brand identity that we’ve come to associate with the Lakers franchise.
NBA Fans Rip The New Jerseys
The leaked uniforms have yet to be confirmed as the real thing, and some Lakers fans are quietly hoping that it’s just a hoax. Real or not, fans aren’t feeling this look at all and many of them took the comments to torch Nike for their increasingly controversial jersey designs.
City Editions have been horrific this year…
— Ben (@TheHurricaneBen) October 21, 2023
The angle of the text really put off a lot of people, and it does look quite strange for the city name to be hovering over the number like that. Of course, with all jerseys, there is a chance that this suit looks better on the court than it does for the camera but there’s no denying that it’s not the cleanest-looking jersey.
They need to fire all the designers for this jersey.
Trash 🚮
— intricateone (@intricateone) October 21, 2023
Sadly, Lakers fans aren’t the only ones to take a negative stance on the jerseys reveals this season. All across the league, teams have been roasted for their designs, which have ranged from looking uninspired to borderline distracting. In fact, this Lakers’ leak is just the latest jersey to get massive disapproval from the fans since Nike took over the job years ago.
These look so uninspiring. Nike been so disappointing.
— It’s me Nashie. (@InJEVONweTrust) October 21, 2023
It remains to be seen if the Lakers or Nike will start to take the fashion advice from fans, but perhaps lower jersey sales might convince them to change their approach. For now, there’s nothing people can do but complain and it’s what they’ve been doing since Nike took over jersey responsibilities from Adidas.
Nike Isn’t Meeting Standards
For years, Adidas was the NBA’s exclusive apparel provider, and many of their jerseys are held in high regard with the fanbase. But when Nike won the bidding war in 2016 and started making the jerseys instead, fans noticed a change in jersey quality and style. Firstly, Nike has changed the look of their designs every single year, no doubt to push jersey sales for every new season. While this yearly update has led to some creative looks, it can rob teams of the identity, culture, and nostalgia that come with jersey continuity.
Arguably, the worst sin of all, however, is the uninspired designs that have thrown everybody off. As one of the world’s leading sports brands, fans were expecting better from Nike and it doesn’t seem like they’re on track to improve anytime soon.
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