THOMAS’ TAKE NOT UNIFORM WITH PAST
Thomas eager for some uni updates
At a time when it’s hard to tell the difference between the modern and throwback uniforms of teams across the league, the Celtics have remained solidly boring.
Green and white on the road, white and green at home, same as it’s been since the dawn of the NBA in 1946. (The team also has three alternative uniforms, but most of the time they are locked in the throwback era.)
This means a lot to Isaiah Thomas, who likes variety and some updated flair in his uniforms. Purists may be shocked by what the Celtics guard has to say about the old green and white.
“I wish we could change our regular ones. We wear throwbacks every game. We wear the hardwood classics every game,” Thomas said. “I wish we could put some black in there. Most teams have three colors. It would be nice if our home jerseys were green and white with a little bit of black, and our regular away jerseys could be the green and black.”
Yes, Thomas even knows the marketing name of the Celtics’ standard issue uniform — the Hardwood Classic.
Thomas prefers the team’s alternate road uniform, which has black numbers and letters over green. The team will break out its St. Patrick’s Day uniform — gold letters over a slightly brighter green — for four days this March, which Thomas also likes.
Even those who don’t care much about current basketball style are aware of how basketball fashion is expanding. Brad Stevens was asked on Wednesday about the novelty of his players wearing a General Electric sponsorship patch next season, with the questioner suggesting the Celtics uniform has barely changed over the years.
Perhaps the Celtics coach’s quick response had something to do with the 123-108 loss in Washington the previous night. Not only was it the most demoralizing loss of the season, but the Celtics were wearing what are known as their Pride uniforms — the gray/green, sleeved design that generally seems the least popular entry on the Celtics runway.
“I mean, we wore gray with sleeves yesterday. So I don’t know,” said Stevens. “It seems like they change every week. I can’t keep up with them.”
One thing about that Pride uniform, though. According to Shawn Sullivan, the Celtics’ chief marketing officer, the Pride jersey is especially popular among kids, and thus an item that’s not likely to fall out of circulation anytime soon.
Said popularity may have something to do with the NBA2K video games and their monumental popularity with youth across the globe.
“You have the option of changing up the uniforms on 2K,” said Sullivan. “I think that accounts for some of it with kids.”
Sullivan’s favorite uniform is a collector’s item, dating back to when the Celtics toured Italy prior to the 2007-08 season. Those uniforms had “Boston” spelled out across the front of the jersey in the colors of the Italian flag.
With the exception of this season’s NBA-dictated Christmas uniform — solid green background with Boston in script lettering — the Celtics have five basic schemes. These include the home and road Hardwood Classic styles, the Pride, the road alternative design that Thomas likes so much, and the St. Patrick’s Day style.
These schemes are modest compared to those of some teams. Toronto has worn blue and white uniforms with the logo of the old Toronto Huskies, a team that played against NBA teams during the 1946-47 season. Their last time in Atlanta, the Celtics were blinded by the Hawks’ current throwback uniforms — royal blue with lime green lettering and stripes. Pete Maravich wore this uniform from 1970-72, when the road uniform was a reversed lime green with royal blue characters.
The Celtics have often encountered Indiana’s “Hickory” uniform when playing in Bankers Life Fieldhouse — the crimson jersey/gold shorts uniform of the famous high school team. Last Tuesday, the Wizards wore a style copied from their ancestor, the Baltimore Bullets, featuring a quasi-baseball jersey with swirling red and blue stripes over blue. The Verizon Center Jumbotron even listed them as the Bullets for the night.
Thomas likes most of these innovations, and he wants to see more. It’s a good thing for him that Nike takes control of the NBA’s uniform account from Adidas starting next season. Nike has designed so many different uniforms for its local interest, the University of Oregon, that the Ducks football team seems to wear something different — endless shades and splashes of green — each week.
There will be limits here, though.
“With Nike, we want to make sure that the numbers, letters, the font and the stitching remain the same,” said Sullivan. “But we’ve just started the process of changing from Adidas to Nike. Any decision we make always has an a lot of discussion before a decision is made.”
But Thomas can’t wait. When he thinks about those Nike-designed uniforms, he thinks of a revolution.
“It’s gonna be a fashion show, when Nike takes over especially,” he said. “Like the Oregon Ducks. Head to toe, it’s going to be how you look. It’s the direction the world’s going in, and the NBA, and I’m excited about it.”