It looks… um, different.
And different often upsets people.
When the Golden State Warriors take the court Feb. 22 home game against the San Antonio Spurs they are going to break out their new alternate uniforms, which you see to the right — tighter fitting with sleeves.
The Warriors owners loved the idea breaking with tradition and going with sleeves — officially known as the “adizero NBA short sleeve uniform system” — if you take what their owner is selling. Bottom line is when the owners are on board, your team is on board. But Adidas hopes there will be more teams after this, reports the San Jose Mercury News.
“I went ‘Wow!'” (Warriors co-owner Peter) Guber said of the August 2011 meeting (with Adidas to pitch the idea). “It was a very profound change. And I think Adidas presenting it to us and giving us the option to be the first one to do this demonstrates our willingness to be inventive….”
“It was the right moment, the right team,” said Lawrence Norman, Adidas’ vice president of global basketball. “Even more important, the right city. When you launch something as innovative as this — that will change the way the players look on the court and the way the fans support the team forever — why not launch it in the most innovative part of the United States?”
It’s a basketball jersey. I think words like “profound” and “changing the way fans support the team forever” are over the top here. Again, it’s a basketball jersey, not a Middle East peace accord.
However, it certainly is a break with NBA tradition. And we know how people tend to respond to breaks in tradition. Based on the twitter/online reaction I’ve seen, people tend to hate it. Particularly the sleeves. But you’re not going to just see it in the NBA, a number of Adidas college teams (UCLA, Louisville, others) will don it as well.
My two cents — I don’t hate the sleeves. I’d say I’m neutral. However, I’m not a fan of the tight-fitting uniforms because, well, eventually someone like Eddy Curry or Raymond Felton after a lockout is going to put them on and we don’t need to see that.
But have at it — what do you think?
