The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping that by signing LeBron James they can return to the glory days of old, when they were perennial contenders in the NBA rather than an extremely profitable lottery team.
Their other free agent signings this summer have raised questions about their plan and exactly how good they can be in Year 1 of the LeBron-era, but all signs point to at least a resurgence of some sort for the Lakers as a postseason contender. With James they figure to play the part, and with a uniform change they hope to look the part, as well.
On Tuesday, official Nike shirseys went on sale that indicated a return to the old Showtime look, but nothing had been confirmed. There is still not an official release from the Lakers, but on Wednesday official Nike LeBron James jerseys hit Modell’s and, once again, that familiar color scheme with purple numbers and white shading on the gold uniforms was present.
https://twitter.com/Modells/status/1022160879960444930
Modells has since deleted the tweet, likely because they posted them long before a release was made official, but the internet is forever and we never forget.
modell's tweeted these lakers jerseys and then deleted them. it's looking like showtime is back. pic.twitter.com/AscbMpX3On
— whitney medworth (@its_whitney) July 25, 2018
As many Lakers fans have pointed out, there are some issues with the update from Nike as it pertains to the original Showtime uniforms. For one, the shading is far less pronounced and the uniforms themselves appear to be very yellow rather than a deeper gold. These don’t appear to be a Classic Edition run (like the Hornets retro whites) but instead the new look for their Icon and Association uniforms.
If that is indeed the case, than some updates and tweaks wouldn’t be a surprise as it will likely be deemed some kind of new interpretation on an old classic. In any case, there will be some questions about the brightness of the yellow and that they look a bit more like Michigan uniforms than classic Laker unis, but I expect eventually fans will get used to these changes and the extra pop of color on the numbers is a welcome addition.
