Welcome to the first instalment of our NBA X NBL uniform mash-ups. While things are still fairly quiet amidst the Covid-19 saga still haunting Australia (mainly Melbourne and Sydney now), we thought we would give the world some insight into what the NBA might look if they took on a more "down under" approach.
First up - The Illawarra Hawks
I have to open by stating that these Illawarra Hawk's uniforms might just be my favourite in the NBL. The Hawks donned these uniforms while riding the wave of prized recruit Lamelo Ball. Melo took the league by storm, with many games selling out just so they could get a glimpse of what a projected top 3 draft pick looks like. He averaged 17ppg, along with 7 assists and 7.5 rebounds per contest - very hype worthy. Melo's popularity aside, these uniforms are the business. Clean and crisp, with the sponsor logo worked in flawlessly. As many other sponsors plonk there logo smack bang in the middle of the jersey, SLAM Magazine is placed on this jersey in such a fashion that the uniform would look very average without it.
When we picked a team to mash these with from the NBA, we tried to avoid the obvious choices: Atlanta Hawks for the name, Houston Rockets for their colour scheme perhaps. Rather than take the easy way out, we decided to pick a team that we heavily criticised in a previous blog for their bland, boring home uniforms - the Denver Nuggets.
I like the Nuggets. I like the Nuggets uniforms.... except for this one. This one is bland. The Nuggets have had such a great uniform history through the years. This is just not one of them. So we thought why not mash these with one of the best uniforms in Australia.
The results did not disappoint:
Now that you have seen it, you can't unsee it, right?!
This gives us a sneak peek at what the NBA might look like if they adopted the more prominent sponsorship recognition on their uniforms. We added the Denver Nuggets' major sponsor, Western Union to the uniform, as well as some elements from the Nuggets' past uniforms/logos on the shorts.
Let us know what you think of it. Drop a comment here, drop a comment on Facebook or any of our socials. Stay tuned for more in the following weeks ahead. Let us know who you would like to see next!
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