The Heat's have revealed new "Vice Nights" Nike City Edition jerseys as the "sequel to last season's popular Vice campaign," according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida SUN SENTINEL. The new uniforms are "black with the classic Heat silhouette" from '88 "colored in laser fuchsia and blue gale, and features the original Miami Arena script across the chest and a re-imagined Heat ball and flame logo sporting the Vice Nights color combination." The uniforms were "designed in-house by Heat Graphic Designer Brett Maurer." The new "twist this season is that there will be a matching court as part of the theme." Heat Exec VP & CMO Michael McCullough said that the court is an "element the team wished it had debuted with last season's initial jersey release." McCullough said, "When we were conceptualizing the uniform, we thought about doing the court, but it was too late. By the time we started the process, it was not going to give us enough time." The Heat have also "launched a special website, Heat.com/ViceNights, which showcases digital elements of the campaign." McCullough added that the team's marketing department "worked with the basketball-operations department on the design and release." Winderman noted the team will "begin wearing the new uniforms" Friday for Pacers-Heat. McCullough said that players "requested early editions to design matching footwear" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 11/6).
TWO-PART SERIES: Heat G Dwyane Wade said the new uniforms are "better than the white ones" from last season. Wade: "The black is what everybody has been waiting for. So, it's dope. And I can't wait." McCullough said the design was "kind of a two-year process, where we knew we wanted to come out with the white uniforms first to set the tone and introduce the concept of Vice." He said, "Then the black uniforms second would give us a chance to really change the story to have a completely different narrative and different feel to the campaign than what we had with the white jerseys. This was a one-two punch that was planned from the start." In Miami, Anthony Chiang noted Nike and the Heat had "trouble keeping up with the demand for Vice jerseys last season and deliveries were delayed." However, that "won't be the case this year" (MIAMI HERALD, 11/6).
WAY UP HIGH: In Denver, Mark Kiszla wrote for the "first time" since '93, the Nuggets have "pulled their classic rainbow skyline jerseys out of mothballs." The "most-beloved unis in the history of Denver sports are back, still retro-cool but freshened" for the '18 NBA season, with a "muted rainbow built from Tetris blocks that form an abstract cityscape on a white jersey." Former NBAer Fat Lever said of the City Edition uniforms, "The rainbow skyline was the Nuggets' jersey people identified with winning basketball in the Mile High City in the past. And these are the uniforms I think fans will identify with winning now and the good times ahead." Kiszla: "My only question: What took so darn long?" (DENVER POST, 11/4).
