Challenge: Describe the NBA All-Star jerseys in ONE word. http://t.co/nFQ0vhWYwM pic.twitter.com/TZqSrZTrUt
— SB Nation (@sbnation) January 17, 2014 NBA All-Star Game 2014 jerseys: Sleeves are the style in NOLA
For the 2014 NBA All-Star Game, Adidas has created a sleeved jersey that celebrates the host city of New Orleans.
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Like it or not, the 2014 NBA All-Star jerseys will be of the sleeved variety.
NBA All-Star Game 2014
• Meet the 2013-14 All-Stars • Anthony Davis, the new hero • Great adventures in New Orleans • History of the Dunk Contest • HE was in the Dunk Contest? • The weird, new Slam Dunk Contest • How to fix the Dunk Contest • Full schedule of All-Star weekend • The All-Star Game primer First, let’s get the logo design out of the way.
To celebrate host city of New Orleans, the Western Conference All-Stars will wear red jerseys with a purple fleur-de-lis symbol. The Eastern Conference players will wear blue jerseys with a green fleur-de-lis. Simple enough.
Now, on to the biggest issue: the sleeves.
USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt caught up with Chris Grancio, Adidas' head of global marketing, to discuss the push for sleeved alternates and special editions. While many players have been quick to criticize the move away from the traditional tanks, Grancio said the proof is in the sales.
“We thought it was an opportunity to give fans to embrace their team,” Grancio told USA Today. “The standard (tank-top) jersey is hard for a lot of people to wear.”
Now, it’s hard to argue the sleeves do anything to disrupt arm movement. There is apparently a “buffer” in between the sleeves and where a normal tank would cut off, and that buffer allows the players’ arms to move with a full range of motion.
But it still comes down to the look.
While the Warriors, Suns and Clippers have already debuted their sleeved alternates this season with varied success -- the NBA also had special edition Christmas Day jerseys with sleeves -- the All-Star versions will probably continue to take on some criticism. It's hard to judge the jerseys until the players are wearing them, so in the meantime, NBA 2K14 made the jerseys available to video game players leading in to the All-Star game.
NBA 2K14 now has the All-Star jerseys available. God they look so bad. :( pic.twitter.com/PAH5GAhYiM
— Basketball Forever (@Bballforeverfb) February 14, 2014 More from SB Nation NBA:
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