The Brooklyn Nets are going to look completely different next NBA season, whenever that might start. For starters, superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving—who missed all but 20 games with injury
last year—will be on the court. But the team will also literally look different, thanks to a pair of special-edition jerseys that toe the line between “genuinely stylish” and “sale rack at Urban Outfitters.”.
Since the Nets moved to Brooklyn in 2012, the team has almost exclusively worn sober white-and-black jerseys. They were designed with the help of Jay-Z—that’s cool!—a former minority owner of the team. The jerseys seemed to function as a palette cleanser from the franchise’s years in New Jersey: longtime fans of the team duly noted that none of the jerseys released since 2012 even feature the word “Nets” on it, let alone the crayon box of bright colors the team used when based there. This was a team rebranded for its cool new home, with jerseys to match a stadium surrounded by luxury apartment buildings.
But times seem to be changing at the Barclays Center. A new alternate jersey isn’t just a throwback—it’s a heavy pour of nostalgia. The sky-blue jerseys with a slight tie-dye effect are based on the ones the Nets wore in the ‘90-‘91 season, when the late Dražen Petrović led the team. They are also very effective bait as style items—can’t you imagine your barista, graphic designer pal, or former WeWork crush in one of these?
Sui generis as they might seem, the jerseys are part of a larger trend. The ‘90s are now firmly back in fashion, and every team with a suitable retro jersey is taking advantage. Last season, in the bubble, the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz played each other in their respective throwbacks—teal blue going up strong against deep purple. The game felt like it should have come in fuzzy on a 20-inch TV. The Nets have managed to bottle everything NBA fans love about those jerseys and bottle it for these Classic Edition kits.
But they’re not done! There’s another new Nets jersey, too, and this one follows the franchise’s recent strategy of glorifying Brooklyn natives. Yesterday, a version of the Nets “City Edition” jersey inspired by the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat leaked. In an attempt to replicate the artist’s scrawled type- and graffiti-tinged style, the jersey features the team name, “Brklyn Nets,” in crude lettering with small drawings around the logo. One potential reason for the jerseys? Kevin Durant is apparently a fan, according to the NY Post. Durant’s talked about studying masters from other fields, citing such luminaries as Elon Musk, Dr. Dre, and...Basquiat. Another reason is that the Nets are trying to fully embrace their still relatively new Brooklyn identity. They’ve borrowed Brooklyn native Notorious B.I.G.’s favorite look for a pair of jerseys with designs resembling the rapper’s Coogi sweaters over the past couple of years. And even if Basquiat is most commonly associated with the downtown Manhattan scene of the ‘80s, the Nets would like to remind you that he was born in their borough.
If the Nets are going to keep on this path of taking inspiration from Brooklynites, we have a couple ideas for who or what might be worthy of the next City Edition jerseys. How about: