This year’s NBL uniforms have been released, and even though they haven’t re-invented the wheel here, it seems there are enough improvements to make fans appreciate them.
As all uniforms are not created equally, here are the pros and cons of what you’ll see later this year.
Adelaide 36ers
Pros
The new white and red side part looks fantastic, as does the red piping on the collar and armholes. The Sixers had a great uniform last season and this season it seems like they’ve just made a couple of tweaks to an already popular design.
The lettering works, and the number is big enough to read on television (which isn’t the case with other teams) and they didn’t to surprise us by rolling out a camouflage design like they did a couple of seasons ago which is a huge win!
Cons
Many professional sports teams have a uniform that is red, white and blue. It’s boring. It’s generic. It doesn’t stand out because it seems this colour scheme will sell and look good enough without trying anything new.
Brisbane Bullets
Pros
The blue and gold work well together, while the stars on the side are a real winner. The font for the name is a love or hate writing style, I’m not sure why the Bullets and Kings have decided to move away from having their logo on the jersey, preferring to have their name in cursive writing but it’s fine.
The outcome however means you probably like or dislike the jersey based on how you feel about the cursive over logo decision. Other than that, it’s clean, and the colours pop, not much more anyone could ask for.
Cons
As said before, you will either love or hate the writing style, so it’s as much of a disadvantage as a pro. The biggest issue is the “EST. 79” on the collar.
The team is making out that they are a foundation team, which is untrue, as they missed nine seasons between 2007 and 2016.
Cairns Taipans
Pros
The orange and blue colours have always been a winner, and having the “Orange Army”, the team would be silly to mess with the colours.
The number on the front is fantastic, as it bounces off the screen.
Cons
The idea of the snakeskin along the side was a good concept, but the team should have gone further in this direction. Why not make the whole side snakeskin.
The font for the team name is a little dated, in fact it’s the same font the club wore in their debut season in 1999/00.
Illawarra Hawks
Pros
The black, red and white works. The trio of colours works as a uniform and for a fan to wear.
The way the team didn’t put any design on down the side like the rest of the league accentuates the clean lines, making the uniform very classy.
Cons
Just like Adelaide, the colour scheme is generic, a decision to be lazy, safe or unique we can’t be sure, no matter what the goal was it has been mostly negated by their design.
One concern is that the sponsor’s logo might mess up the sleekness, breaking up the clean look of the jersey.
Melbourne United
Pros
Good things to say about Melbourne’s uniform… someone tried hard the be creative is the only thing I can think of. The number is legible, and Soda Streams are awesome.
Cons
The Los Angeles Clippers had a similar uniform with the logo next to the number, and that looked terrible.
M20 sounds like a freeway and watching Melbourne play on TV is going to be hard with the logo and number so close together.
This uniform is a train wreck. The designers should be applauded for trying something new but realise they need to return to the drawing board. Let’s pray the team’s alternate jersey is better and the club decide to wear their alternative jersey more often than not.
New Zealand Breakers
Pros
It’s always good to see a team incorporate a part of their culture into their uniform, and for said team to not go overboard with too much culture (always a risk).
The colours are great because they use grey instead of white and a unique shade of blue.
Cons
The name font looks dated, while the number is going to be hard to read at a distance.
The Breakers should be re-named “Two-Face” due to the two completely different halves on the uniform, which could be seen in either a positive or negative light.
Perth Wildcats
Pros
The red jumps off the screen and will work marvellously with the Red Army fans.
The black and red on the side works and using the different colours in a black jersey with red on the side would look great, similar to Illawarra’s uniform.
Cons
The number is tiny and looks out of place, and the name font wouldn’t look out of place on a high school team.
Removing the black on the side would probably look better, giving the uniform a sleeker design.
Sydney Kings
Pros
The purple and gold are timeless, so keeping those colours was an easy win.
The name font is a winner in my eyes despite many fans vocal about wanting the classic harbour bridge inspired logo instead.
The yellow on the side makes sure the uniform doesn’t become overpowered with purple.
Cons
Yellow on the collar and armholes might have made the uniform more structured. Having a white colour instead of yellow is puzzling, seeing as there isn’t any other white apart from the sponsor logo.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
