The NBA’s BIG Jersey campaign on Christmas Day has inspired a lot of mockery among fans who find the sleeves ugly. The new sleeved jerseys have also raised the ire of LeBron James immersed among his fickle shooters in Miami. So while many fans and players have complaints about the jersey, which features a BIG logo on the front with the number across the left sleeve, we’re going to rank the 10 iterations set to debut tomorrow.
While not exactly what we expect when watching an NBA game, after watching the Dubs rock the sleeves at various points this year and last, they don’t inspire nearly as much enmity as they did when they first debuted. But Christmas Day features 10 different looks, all of which can be purchased at NBA.com, and while sleeved jerseys have already been worn, they haven’t all featured the BIG Logo in the front — sans number — that leaked back in early November. The number is now on the left shoulder and the enlarged logo out front, with the traditional back still in place.
Regardless of your style preferences, we’re ranking the 10 Christmas Day sleeved jerseys from worst to first. We know some — if not, a lot — of a you will disagree, so leave your corrections in the comments. But remember to keep the tone convivial because it’s the holidays, and these are jersey rankings, after all.
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10. LOS ANGELES LAKERS
We don’t even mind if the Lakers wore their white jerseys on Christmas Day rather than their traditional gold and purple, but the logo with the white background and the barest of gold trim on the adidas logo and collar, just doesn’t sit right with us. Plus, Kobe Bryant won’t even get to wear this jersey, which immediately pushes it back on our Christmas Day list.
9. MIAMI HEAT
LeBron has already complained and the Heat shooters are letting the sleeves affect their form. If the 2-time defending champs lose to a banged up Lakers team that’s missing pretty much its entire backcourt — so much so, they’ve signed Kendall Marshall from the D-League — these Heat sleeves might be burned in effigy like the Heat fans who left Game 6 early last year.
8. BROOKLYN NETS
The Nets have lost their last three games, their All-Star center, Brook Lopez, and their top assistant coach, Lawrence Frank, after a shouting match with their coach, who is a recently retired player with zero coaching experience. They’ve also lost 19 of their first 27 games, $190 million in payroll and taxes and their erstwhile partial owner and emcee to the stars, Jay-Z. But most of all they’ve lost the respect of any Brooklyn basketball fans that might have made the jump from the Knicks. Speaking of which…
7. NEW YORK KNICKS
They’re as dreadful as their intra-city doppelgängers of woe, but while the black is a little more palatable than this shocking orange, jerseys are supposed to be colorful, at least to our eyes. Then again, the Knicks have looked really bad in the colors even though they bear a striking resemblance to Carmelo Anthony‘s alum, Syracuse, with whom he captured a 2003 NCAA title. Still, the Knicks suck, and these orange sleeves can often look like someone threw up Kool Aid all over them.
6. CHICAGO BULLS
We actually love the aesthetics of the Bull mascot and logo design, and it looks pretty dope as the only image on the front of the jersey. But the Bulls get demoted a bit because D-Rose is out, and it hurts our soul to look at this promo pic of him when he couldn’t stay healthy long enough to wear it in a game.
Check out the next five, who are all in a happier place…
5. HOUSTON ROCKETS
The red is as flamboyant as Houston’s offseason and the antipathy GM Daryl Morey has inspired after his double-coup in landing James Harden from OKC and Dwight Howard from the Lakers in back-to-back summers. Still, the single Rocket in a backdrop of red looks pretty dope, and the Rockets haven’t exactly floundered despite the high expectations placed on them. They’re the No. 6 team in a really competitive Western Conference.
4. WARRIORS
If sleeved jerseys were lyrical emcees, Golden State would be Rakim, the progenitor. They introduced NBA fans to the sleeves, and while it’s inspired countless jokes and shaking of the head’s on Twitter, the Bay Area logo on the front of the BIG Logo design actually looks pretty cool. The Dubs might be trying to play catchup in the West, but they’re in the playoffs as of today, and they’ve got everyone healthy, so the yellow background to the jersey is more bright than jaundiced.
3. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
We’re not so sure about the logo itself, which seems like a Terminator/Wolverine version of Superman, but we love the coloring as the background. The Thunder are also pretty solid again this year, even if all their numbers are actually down from where they were during last season’s 60 regular season wins. Despite this, Kevin Durant has never been better and Russ appears fully recovered. Sleeves don’t really matter when you’ve got those two, and we’re pretty sure Russ just shrugged and said, “why not,” when told of the sleeved BIG Logo jerseys on Christmas. Even our imaginary Russ is the best.
2. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Similar to the background for OKC, these sleeved jerseys features a darker blue, though, one which matches their darker demeanors under new coach Doc Rivers. They rank as the No. 4 offensive team this season, but unlike season’s past, they’re No. 7 in defense, with an overall net rating at No. 5. Blake Griffin seems to have raised his level of play and these jerseys match their new-found intensity — though we’re more partial to the powder blue, it’s not as intimidating.
1. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
The silver background is as classic as the Spurs. At 22-6 this season, they’ve again shown no slippage through the season’s first trimester. Many thought last summer’s iconic loss in the Finals would ruin their resolve, but the Spur are as grizzled as Gregg Popovich. The grey/black combo with the blacked Spur logo is as unadorned as a Popovich speech on the sideline, which is why they’re our favorite Christmas Day jerseys — sleeves or not.
What’s your favorite sleeved BIG Logo Christmas Day jersey?
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