Fix Los Angeles, and other uniform wishes for 2014

The Bucks' alternate and the Lakers' home uni

Here are some hoped-for changes, mostly in the uniform world, for 2014. Little consideration was given to how likely these changes are.

Promote your alternate, Milwaukee

The Milwaukee Bucks’ wonderful alternate uniform highlights how mediocre their primaries are. Fixing that seems simple: scrap the primaries and replace them with a green and a white uniform in the style of their alternate. Or even use the exact red alternate as the new road uniform.

Get the overhauls right

As mentioned in last week’s post, there’s concern that the Charlotte Hornets will have “aggressive”, and therefore likely unattractive, uniforms when they are released before the 2014-15 season. Hopefully that’s not the case and they let the distinctive teal and purple combo do most of the work for the uniform.

Portland could potentially have new uniforms in 2015 and Toronto’s overhaul should come into effect for 2015-16. We probably won’t see any of those changes in 2014, but let’s hope that any developments heard in 2014 on that front are positive. Fingers crossed that headlines like “Don’t expect big changes to Blazers’ wardrobe” and “Raptors to keep primary logo” appear in 2014. 

Limit the looks

Too many uniforms are worn by teams over a season, whether it’s due to special-event uniforms or multiple alternates. It’d be nice for teams to embrace having just one alternate, if they must have an alternate at all. Also, the NBA doing away with special-event unis like those for Christmas Day would be welcomed.

Tweak the Lakers and Clippers

Many teams could use a slight alteration to their uniforms. But the two LA teams are particularly noteworthy because smallish changes would produce significant improvements.

The Lakers need to draw major inspiration from their ‘80s and ‘90s uniform and ditch the jersey side panels and fix their collar.

The Clippers should depart from all the extraneous gunk on their uniforms – look at the sides and the collar – and embrace a classic look. All that really requires, in addition to the clean collar and sides, is a number font change.  

Floor improvements

The oversized midcourt logo is popular, but hopefully that changes next year. Too often teams are opting for an excessively large logo or word mark when a more Boston Celtics-sized one would be superior.

There are too many solid-colour keyways: having contrasting sides is generally a superior look.

A move away from the multi-coloured wood look in 2014 would also be appreciated.