Now that Cavaliers F LeBron James "has had his say, it's a safe bet that NBA sleeves are on their way out," according to Paul Lukas of ESPN.com. James "is trying to be a good company man, but his actions speak louder than his words." Ever since the NBA and adidas introduced the jerseys in February '13, fans "have complained about them." The sleeves "have also been unpopular with many of the league's players, including LeBron himself, who first complained about them more than a year and a half ago, when he was still playing" for the Heat. But the NBA "has continued to push the sleeved agenda." The NBA and adidas "were concerned that fans didn't like to buy tank top replica jerseys and were hoping to increase merchandise sales by introducing the sleeved format." But the sleeves "have alienated the league's fan base, its labor force and now its best player." Many observers "have assumed that NBA sleeves will quietly be mothballed when the league's uniform contract passes from Adidas to Nike at the start" of the '17-18 season (ESPN.com, 11/5). SPORTS ON EARTH's Cy Brown wrote it "makes no sense to keep producing and pushing them if the most visible player in the league has to tear his apart in the middle of a game" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 11/5).
LEAVE THE SLEEVE? ESPN’s Pablo Torre said, "Sleeves are clearly a device just to sell different, more jerseys to people maybe not cool with bearing their deltoids. ... This is probably going to sell some more sleeved jerseys (to kids) just so they can destroy them." ESPN’s Jackie MacMullen said, "There’s too much money invested, even for LeBron, to put the brakes on something this important.” Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw added, "I think it could be the most important thing LeBron James ever does if he gets rid of these things" (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 11/5).
