NBA loosens its restrictions on shoe colors
For the first time in league history, the NBA will allow players to wear sneakers of any color at any point during the upcoming season, league sources confirmed.
The rule change is part of the NBA’s ongoing effort to allow its players to be expressive on the court.
Last season — Nike’s first year of manufacturing uniforms for all 30 teams — saw the addition of several alternate jersey designs and the removal of traditional white-based jerseys worn only for home games. Teams were at their own discretion to designate their home and road jersey colors. The Chicago Bulls opted to wear red for all home games, for example.
As part of Nike’s eight-year, $1 billion deal to outfit the NBA, Nike has been aggressive in amplifying the look of teams and players across the league. Nearly 67 percent of players wore footwear from Nike or its Jordan Brand subsidiary last season.As players have continued to ramp up their penchant for wearing flashy sneakers all season, the league is looking to offer up some additional freedom. Last season, LeBron James wore 51 different versions of his Nike LeBron 15 model.
The only ongoing restrictions will regard third-party logos, which still will have to be preapproved by the league office before making their way to the court. Custom hand-painted sneakers, often made just days before being worn, surged in popularity last season. The league will continue to look closely at any third-party logos, as last season saw everything from nonapproved movie cover artwork to podcast logos to charity organization icons sneak onto the hardwood.
Shoes for the first half of the season are typically viewed and approved by late August. The league would prefer to confirm pairs for the latter half of the season by early December.