The Blazers’ New Alternate Jerseys Honor Oregon’s Tribal Nations

Over the past few years, the City Edition jerseys across the NBA have offered us some truly special alternate uniforms. The idea was to pay tribute to some specific aspect of the local community, and teams have gotten more and more creative and colorful with their ideas of late.

Some have also gotten a little more socially conscious about it. Take the Portland Trail Blazers, for instance. This week, the organization debuted their stunning new alternate jerseys that they’ll be wearing periodically next season, with a unique focus on both the majestic landscape of the state and its Native American legacy.

The team posted their first images of the new uniforms to Twitter on Thursday.

According to the team’s website, each stripe on the color scheme holds symbolic meaning for various state destinations, such as the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm outside of the city limits that hosts one of the most spectacular tulip festivals in the country; Crater Lake, the deepest alpine lake in the United States; Cannon Beach, a popular Oregon Coast destination; and the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

The franchise is also using this opportunity to not only pay homage to its Native American heritage, but to give back in a meaningful way. Here’s more from the team’s site:

Honoring the tribal nations throughout was is now considered Oregon who have called this land their home from the beginning. Biofreeze and the Trail Blazers have teamed up to donate a portion of the net proceeds from the jersey sales to the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), a Portland-area nonprofit working to enhance the diverse strengths of Native youth and families through cultural identity and education.

The uniforms will go on sale Dec. 3 and are available through the team’s site.