Shoe and apparel companies fight tooth and nail to constantly get a leg up on competition, and make shoes and jerseys that are light and innovative.
Adidas will try and do that with their NBA jerseys, as the Golden State Warriors will unveil a new Adidas jersey that has sleeves.
Per the San Jose Mercury News, the Warriors will be the first team in the modern NBA era to play in something other than a tank top.
Warriors’ co-owner Peter Guber says he was blown away by Adidas pitch.
“I went ‘Wow!’ ” Guber said of the August 2011 meeting. “It was a very profound change. And I think Adidas presenting it to us and giving us the option to be the first one to do this demonstrates our willingness to be inventive.”
The Warriors will debut the new unis for their Feb. 22 home game against the San Antonio Spurs, which is being aired on ESPN. They will also wear them March 8 vs. Houston and March 15 vs. Chicago.
Adidas would like the trend to continue to all teams.
“It was the right moment, the right team,” said Lawrence Norman, Adidas’ vice president of global basketball. “Even more important, the right city. When you launch something as innovative as this — that will change the way the players look on the court and the way the fans support the team forever — why not launch it in the most innovative part of the United States?”
The new jersey is much less a T-shirt than the next phase in the evolution of basketball apparel.
It’s being called the “adizero NBA short sleeve uniform system.” And Adidas boasts it as a revolutionary marriage between performance and aesthetics.
Well I wonder what will NBA fans think. It’s not crazy looking or anything. It looks similar to the way Dwight Howard looks right now with his shirt to help his shoulder heal.