Ranking NBA City Edition jerseys from the awful to the elite

Ranking NBA city edition jerseys: 10-1

10. Washington Wizards – 10 points

Like a few other NBA city edition jerseys on this list, the Wiz jersey would make for an excellent third jersey. It’s very clean and fits the look of their two others. That’s the problem, this one just doesn’t set itself apart enough from the regular jerseys of the team. Had they tweaked the color pattern of the stripes just a little, this could’ve been more of a throwback. To make it really stand out they could’ve gone stripes all the way down (don’t look at these shorts)

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9. Chicago Bulls – 10 points

The Bulls have gone with a very good design for the second straight year. The first look is a clean jersey that doesn’t overpower like others on the list. The clean red holds true to the team’s main look while changing up the look a little bit. The script font is a surefire way to get my attention, I only wish the font was a tad larger. Nike didn’t try to do too much for the Bulls and it shows. Sometimes simple is better when it comes to NBA city edition jerseys.

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8. Orlando Magic – 10.5 points

Maybe it’s because we’re less than a week removed from Halloween but the orange and black is attracting my attention in a good way. This builds on last year’s set by inverting the colorway and changing the logo. My biggest gripe is the logo is a bit clunky, maybe it just looked better when Shaq and Penny wore it and the two stars felt right. But now, it’s just a little too busy.

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7. Golden State Warriors – 11 points

This look combines aspects from past jerseys while not downright copying those parts. The lightning goes back to the late 90s. Using black as the main was nice because very few other jerseys use that as the defining color. I’m not the biggest fan of the Golden Gate Bridge logo but it pops here.

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6. Denver Nuggets – 11 points

The first glance draws the eyes as I’m not used to seeing the rainbow used this way. The more I look, I find parts to really like and parts I’d tweak. The font for one is not something I liked on the original jerseys and am not sure it should have lived past the 90s. The side panel just flat out works and powers the Nuggets to a high ranking by being so different from the rest.

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5. Atlanta Hawks – 11.5 points

Essentially this is just a throwback to the late 90s teams that is zoomed in on the logo. Atlanta has the best yellow in basketball and I’d really like to see it more as a featured than a supporting color. The Hawks have had good City Editions the last few years.

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4. Houston Rockets – 12 points

Almost a straight throwback to the end of the Hakeem era. These bring back the pinstripes without crowding them out like Charlotte did this year. I wish they’d brought out the old rocket orbiting a ball logo but that would make this just a throwback with modern names on the back.

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3. Los Angeles Clippers – 12.5 points

This is how you switch things up folks. Since the team moved the LA they haven’t used light blue as their main color, but they have been dabbling with the franchises tradition in recent years (the Buffalo Braves jerseys were fantastic). I’d like to see a complete rebrand for the Clippers when they finally break free from the Staples Center. The orange and blue accents really attract attention and make this one of the best NBA city edition jerseys.

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2. Toronto Raptors – 12.5 points

Giving the people what they want. More cartoon raptor, please (I’m people). The gold raptor on a black background really stands out and makes you think of their recent title (if only this was their championship jersey). My only wish is that purple could’ve somehow been incorporated with this jersey but I think that would be too busy. Great jersey, keep ’em coming.

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1. San Antonio Spurs – 13 points

The winners of this great exercise are the San Antonio Spurs. The fiesta look is one of the great looks in NBA history (glad they haven’t overused it, so far). The blue, pink, and orange add some much needed pop to what is among the most bland jersey colors in sports. I wonder if there will be many Duncan, Parker, or Ginobili custom jerseys because the names on this roster aren’t the most inspiring. Would’ve like to see the “Spurs” get a little color but I get why they didn’t. The roadrunner logo on these shorts doesn’t factor in these rankings but deserves to be discussed because it is a cut above the alternate logos of the league.

The NBA city edition jerseys were solid overall, but hopefully more teams will take risks in the future.