More teal and black for Charlotte Hornets’ home-game uniforms? Pinstripes, too?
If you love the Charlotte Hornets’ teal uniforms or the black “Buzz City” design, you’ll like a change in what the team wears for home games next season.
As the NBA shifts from Adidas to Nike as its uniform supplier, the league is also loosening its policy on which team wears what color each game.
Previously, the league encouraged teams to wear white at home and colors on the road (although there were frequent exceptions granted in recent seasons). From now on, the home team can pick what to wear for each home game and the road team will then select a contrasting uniform.
Based on the NBA’s announcement Tuesday, each team will have at least four variations on its uniforms. The Hornets wore four uniforms last season: White, purple, teal and the “Buzz City” sleeved black version.
When the nickname switch occurred from Bobcats to Hornets in 2014, the Hornets released a white design for home and a purple design as the primary road uniform. Teal and black were alternative looks.
Teal was quite popular from the introduction, as was the “Buzz City” look. The Hornets will have wide latitude now to wear what they choose in the 41 regular-season home games at Spectrum Center for 2017-18.
The NBA’s announcement also mentioned that eight yet-to-be-announced franchises would have the option to wear “Classic Edition” designs, which the league described as a team’s “most iconic” look.
If the Hornets are one of those eight teams, it would seemingly make way for a pinstripes-and-pleats version, reminiscent of the design by Alexander Julian in the late 1980s for the original Charlotte franchise.
Regardless, the Hornets will have a uniform label that makes it distinctive from the other 29 franchises. While other teams will have a Nike swoosh, Hornets jerseys will include a Jordan Brand logo for team owner Michael Jordan.
Bonnell: 704-358-5129: @rick_bonnell
This story was originally published July 18, 2017 at 2:59 PM with the headline "More teal and black for Charlotte Hornets’ home-game uniforms? Pinstripes, too?."