Originally posted September 16, 2017
Wow, I woke up on Saturday morning to new NBA uniform news all over my twitter feed. At an event on Friday evening in Los Angles, Nike and the NBA unveiled the third core uniform for the upcoming season, the Statement Edition along with the Nike Therma Flex Showtime Warm-up Jacket and he Nike NBA Connected Jersey.
As previously discussedhere on Spurs in the 6, each NBA team will have four core uniforms for the upcoming season. The Association Edition and the Icon Edition were announced back in August. The Statement Edition is supposedly "inspired by teams’ desire to make a bold statement the moment they step on the court" and Nike "worked with the teams and the brand’s roster of athletes to create new and updated uniforms".
For the record, I like really the Spurs Statement Edition.
That said, I'm not so sure about the "new" hype by Nike here, at least as it relates to the Spurs uniform. The Spurs Statement Edition jersey is essentially the alternate silver jersey the Spurs have had since 2012 with some small tweaks. Despite the lack of something "new", I have been a big fan of the silver alternate since day one (I have an authentic Ginobili version hanging in my closet) so this is ok with me.
Nike also debuted the Nike Therma Flex Showtime Warm-up Jacket at the event on Friday. If you watch the event video on YouTube, this is what all the players are wearing before the jersey reveal.
The Nike Therma Flex Showtime Warm-up Jacket is the first on-court warm-up jacket with a performance hood. The specs for the jacket note that is made with Nike's new Therma Flex fabric and will help the payers maintain "the right body temperature during pregame warm-ups and downtime during a game – a critical element for peak performance".
Nike has stressed repeatedly that it has incorporated feedback from players into the new uniforms. This is very evident in the hood design of the jackets, as noted by Nike: "Developed with input from top NBA athletes, the reimagined hood allows for optimal vision, hearing and warmth, delivering a greater intersection between performance and style – a key request from NBA athletes." No more hiding under layers of towels while on the bench, just flip up the hood instead...
On the Spurs front, it looks like the Spurs version of the jacket will have a large version of the Spurs "U" logo on the left and the nike swoosh on the right. Add in the fact that it looks like all of the jackets will be black and we now have the first item on the Spurs in the 6 Christmas list!
This is interesting... adult sized NBA Connected Jerseys are embedded with a near field communication (NFC) chip that uses new NikeConnect technology to launch, on an iPhone or other device, real-time team and player content such as pregame arrival footage, highlight packages and top players’ favorite music playlists.
Exclusive offers and other fan experiences are also promised throughout the course of the season. To make it work, you download the NikeConnect app and "tap" your smartphone to the jersey tag.
While NFC content as a general concept is nothing new, the interaction with a basketball jersey is an interesting twist and I am hopeful that Nike and the NBA might find some new ways to interact with this technology and the related content.
The Statement Edition jersey will be available at retail on November 20th and the Statement Edition uniform will begin to be worn on-ourt on November 25th. No word yet when the Spurs will debuting their version.
The Nike Therma Flex Showtime Warm-up Jacket will debut on-court at the start of the pre-seaon on September 30th and will be available online starting September 29th.
The Nike NBA Connected Jersey will also be available exclusively online starting September 29th.
As you may have noticed by now, we are slightly opposed with the idea of a fiesta themed uniform here on Spurs in the 6. With 3 of the 4 core uniforms announced, we are down to the final edition which, according to Nike's marketing, is supposed to represent the community.
As previously discussed hereon Spurs in the 6, it is the “Community” uniform the has a lot of fans excited, especially me, about the possibility of a fiesta themed uniform.
Spurs in the 6 previously explored what a fiesta themed uniformcould look like. Since that time, I have narrowed down my favourite design on social media to this turquoise creation by Seth Reese.
Only time will tell, fingers crossed!
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