Sports Illustrated Ranks The 25 Ugliest Jerseys In NBA History
By Ray Boyd
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- NBA uniforms seem to go through all kinds of interesting phases. There was of course the "short shorts," era which gave way to baggy shorts in the 90's.
There were the gaudy uniform designs of the mid 90's that featured odd fonts, full-bodied animal logos and mountain ranges. Then, we had a calmer, but more colorful period in the 2000's which has since given way to a return to the old-school over the last few years as teams like the Sixers readopt old color schemes and logos.
Sports Illustrated decided to take a look back with their 25 ugliest jerseys in NBA history.
Some of the selections are rather obvious, but a list like this is purely a matter of taste. What SI might have found to be ugly, someone else (perhaps myself) may have found the jersey to be creative.
One that SI was correct on was the early 70's Atlanta Hawks uniform. The jersey featured a green, blue and white color scheme that was just way too dreary and bland to represent the flash embodied by their star "Pistol," Pete Maravich.
The Hawks made another appearance on the list with this 90's jersey that featured a Hawk with its wings spread wide open on the front of the jersey.
Calling that jersey ugly is an atrocity. That by far was one of the most intimidating jerseys in an era where teams were looking to make a statement with their logos.
It is a vast improvement over those pea-green uniforms the team wore decades before.
Unlike the Hawks, the Sixers only made one appearance on the list. The problem is the Sixers might have arguably made the list with the worst jersey in league history.
From 1991-1994 the Sixers wore a jersey with some sort of shooting stars thing going on across the front of the tops. The shorts reused the element while the other leg featured the team's main logo of the basketball with "76ers," on the inside.
This was a a jersey that clearly represented trying to do too much. Maybe it was appropriate for the jersey to be such a mess to match the team at that time.
SI did pretty well identifying bad jerseys for the most part. They hit the nail on the head with the Cleveland Cavaliers blue and black jerseys of the Mark Price era.
They correctly called out whatever this is that the Grizzlies were donning.
The also were spot on calling out the striped/checkered pattern jerseys worn by the Bobcats. Quick design note: never put multiple patterns into one jersey design.
However, there is one uniform that SI called ugly that they were gravely mistaken about. The jerseys worn by the Toronto Raptors in the late nineties should go down as one of the best jerseys in NBA history.
The uniform featured a full raptor on the front of the uniform wearing a raptor uniform. The jersey also featured spread out white stripes on a purple body and a lettering pattern for the players last name unlike anything ever seen before.
The Raptors would have been smart to stick with this design in one writer's humble opinion.
