Sixers Unveil New Jerseys
Image via Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers are very concerned with their brand. No, really! The team has bottomed out, and (presumably) it will start to turn around next season. And since there hasn’t been much on the court to cheer recently, the Sixers have been reduced to holding events that are just about the brand.
“SIXERS UNVEIL NEW UNIFORMS TO EXTEND BRAND IDENTITY UPDATE” was the actual press release the team sent out after last night’s jersey unveiling, where a group of Sixers die-hards watched a bunch of Sixers legends talk about the team before current players came out and modeled the uniforms.
Image via Philadelphia 76ers
The event was weird, but entertaining. It was not as good as the mascot unveiling in February, but we did get to hear Scott O’Neil talk about “being a steward for this brand.” We also heard from Bobby Jones about how defense matters, Allen Iverson compare himself to Michael Jordan (it sort of made sense), and Darryl Dawkins say that “there’s no place like Philly, so I’m never leaving.” Also, Moses Malone trashed the Houston Rockets for not surrounding him with any talent, and Allen Iverson high-fived a dog mascot.
Now, for the jerseys. Not bad! They are basically an update of the team’s current, clean look. The jersey’s overall style is a throwback to the 1980s. PHILA is a reference to the team’s Wilt Chamberlain-era jerseys that also contained that abbreviation. (For the kids reading, “Phila.” is also how you abbreviate the city when sending mail.) The stars down the sides are much like the team’s 1970s jerseys.
The jerseys have some subtle elements to enjoy, too. The Sixers really did do a good job of incorporating their brand into the new uniforms; the partial Betsy Ross star circle logo is on the waistband of the shorts, while there are seven stars on the tops and six on the pants — 13 in all, for the 13 colonies (and the logo).
The white jerseys are the cleanest, but the red alternate shorts have the strongest design. Moving the logo to the side makes them much less cluttered than the primary jerseys. Uni Watch’s Paul Lukas says the team missed a chance with the red jerseys, however, and I agree: With such classic, simple designs in the home and road jerseys, why not do something different for the alternate.
No matter, though. The Sixers have tweaked their jerseys and created a pretty nice design. Now maybe they’ll only lose 50 games in them this season?
