The recent release of the NBA's 2024-25 city edition jerseys featured some genuine doozies. And it got us thinking: What are the worst NBA jerseys in recent memory? The league has featured plenty of iconic, sharp and original kits over the years, but there are some design failures, too. From the unfortunate sleeved era to a bizarre mismatching of shorts and jersey—to a uniform that looked more like office supplies than basketball gear—you'll find some of the worst below.
With all due respect: What the hell, Atlanta Hawks? The concept of mismatched jerseys is pretty cool. And I respect franchises and designers actually willing to take chances. Too many jersey rebrands are just nods to what's already been (which can be fun!) or far too conservative (bleck.
) But these unis coalesce into a special kind of eyesore. They aren't so much innovative risk-taking as a collision of blahness. The most eye-popping aspect of them is the fonts on "ATL" and the numbers.
They are far from plain yet decidedly visible. Good stuff. It's oddly tough to explain what's so displeasing here.
Maybe it's the color scheme. Black on red, with yellow mixed in, is aesthetic carnage when there are no unique transitions or aligning patterns tying them together. A dusty gradient would have done better on the jerseys themselves than those transparent triangles.
And please, for the love of everything, fire the brim of the shorts all the way into the sun. Are we playing basketball or getting ready for an amat.