Fifty years after critics "declared it a failure, the Warriors' 'The City' jersey is the team’s No. 1 selling jersey and an undisputed retro classic," according to Peter Hartlaub of the S.F. CHRONICLE. The Warriors this season "built a second court" with the '66 logo "emblazoned in the center." When Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were chosen for a recent SI cover, they "showed up in their The City jerseys." Late Warriors Owner Franklin Mieuli "designed the jersey concept himself, with an image of the Golden Gate Bridge on the front and a cable car climbing to the stars on the back." He "got a deal from friends in the advertising world, unveiling The City campaign on dozens of unsold billboards bought at discount." Even after the jersey "was gone, the influence of The City continued." NBA teams, including the Sonics and Nuggets, "started using city imagery" on their jerseys in the '70s. The City jersey "returned in production as one of the NBA’s 'hardwood classics'" in '01, and the Warriors have been "wearing them as alternate uniforms this year" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/30).
WORST OF THE WORST? ESPN2’s "NBA Tonight" on Monday did a segment called “Worst Uniforms Bracket” and featured four seeds for an East bracket. ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth said the No. 4 seed was the Celtics’ “Parquet Pride” uniform, the No. 3 seed was the Hawks’ “Granite Gray” jersey, the No. 2 seed was the Pacers’ “Hickory High” jerseys and the No. 1 seed was the Wizards’ “Baltimore Pride” jersey. Hubbarth said of the “Hickory High” uniform, “I feel like they’ve worn (those jerseys) 70 times this year.” ESPN’s Tim Legler said the worst was the “Hickory High” jerseys, noting, “I’m a huge ‘Hoosiers’ fan, but come on. It looks like the team that should be playing against the Globetrotters.” After nearly 10,000 votes, the “Baltimore Pride” and “Hickory High” jerseys advanced to the East Finals (“NBA Tonight,” ESPN2, 3/28).
