Per usual for a holiday during the NBA season, the league has teamed up with adidas to create a special jersey for the occasion. Today, they revealed the "Big Color" uniforms featuring a monochromatic theme. Check out the various new threads above and who will be matched up against who on the NBA's biggest day in the first couple months of the season. The game most likely to cause temporary eye damage? New York's orange jerseys on the Lakers' purple and gold court. All kidding aside, I do like the one-time change for Christmas. I wonder how they're going to separate the Rockets and Bulls if the Bulls are already rocking the red. Whatever the case, it should be quite the Merry occasion!
Stop the presses! I, not the Zen Master, will have to tell Kobe to pass.
Ok, I'm having a little fun with the captions. I only mean that in jest, as in all seriousness, Mike D'Antoni has officially been hired as the new Lakers coach, ending the widespread hype for Phil Jackson's comeback and potential third run as the head man in Los Angeles. So says Lakers beat writer, Mike Bresnahan:
I was initially surprised that Phil wasn't coming back, but upon further thought, why would he? It's not a win-win situation. If he wins, he cements a legacy that's already been formed as concrete years ago. If he loses, then it tarnishes said legacy given the amount of future hall-of-famers the Lakers currently employ (Kobe, Dwight, Nash, Gasol, Steve Blake).
As for D'Antoni's hire, he seems like a good fit. He has excelled with Nash as his point guard in Phoenix; in fact, Nash is the perfect point guard for his system says experts. Plus, he has coached Kobe and Dwight before as an assistant coach on Team USA's last two gold medal runs in the Olympics. His reputation says he's the offensive mastermind that can make all of these pieces produce points effeciently and that's certainly going to be put to the test with this situation. Defensively on the other hand... well, at least D'Antoni will have the luxury of Dwight Howard roaming the Lakers' back line of defense.
What do you guys think of the Lakers' new coach? Disappointed Phil's not coming back? Is D'Antoni going to be a good fit?
LATE (somewhat related) ADD: If NBA coaching news isn't interesting to you, perhaps a Metta World Peace interview where he excitedly wants to pop bottles with the interviewer is more your entertainment?
Episode 3 of the NBA's gripping reality series The Association premiered this weekend and this week's spotlight of the Brooklyn Nets follows the team during the first week of games - their delayed, yet successful home opener against the Toronto Raptors and two crushing losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat. There are glimpses of the ups and downs, more on the team dealing with Hurricane Sandy, and some humorous locker room moments throughout. The Nets are a great team to follow this season and this week's latest episode illustrates just that - watch above!
In breaking NBA uniform news, both the OKC Thunder and New York Knicks have revealed new alternate uniforms they will be wearing this season. Both teams needed something else to wear on the road, but now I just wish it was somethin' else.
As you can see above, the Thunder go the unconventional route with 'Thunder' draping the jersey vertically. They also go the unconventional route by not including any of the team's colors. I dig the concept, I dig the simplicity, I don't dig that they look more like Penn State uniforms than OKC Thunder uniforms. Where's that unique shade of blue? Why not mix in some orange and black as well?
All that said, the Knicks alternates make the Thunder's alternates a smashing hit. I normally vibe with mono-themed clothing, but not with NBA jerseys, and not with orange. Especially disappointing after their new away/home unis successfully paid homage to the 80s and 90s Knicks threads. They could have done the same here if they had simply reversed some of the colors, with the orange-based unis making for a modern twist, but they unfortunately missed the boat on that opportunity.
You can look forward to seeing these unis throughout the season, starting tonight when OKC debuts them at home. They actually have a great glimpse at the design inspirations on their site, so check that out as well.
adidas Basketball releases another fresh new colorway of the D Rose 3 - the Michigan Ave. edition seen above. The inspirations clearly stem from Rose's hometown once again, but more specifically:
Dubbed “Michigan Avenue” the colorway is inspired by the lights and iconic characters that populate the avenue in Derrick’s hometown of Chicago during the holiday season. The white synthetic leather upper and midsole feature speckled dots to represent the bright lights of one the world’s best known avenues. The toe is bright blue nubuck, three stripes and lace eyelets are bright yellow and the tongue, outsole and laces are infrared to represent the iconic characters in the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival parade. The inside of each tongue features stars and a half-moon to represent D Rose’s “Poohdini” tattoo. The pattern is encircled by the satellite coordinates of Michigan Avenue and the number 1,000,000 to represent the amount of lights displayed each year during the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival which kicks off Saturday, November 17.
Wow, got to appreciate the detail. And I love the looks of it once again. It would be fitting to grab these on the Michigan Ave. adidas store in Water Tower Place on November 15th, when the shoe will be available everywhere!
The NBA's official reality series, The Association, is simply put: a must-see show. Think NFL's Hard Knocks but for the NBA. And for the entire NBA Season. The last two years chronicling the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets have been fascinating, but they aim to raise the bar even higher with this year's look at the Brooklyn Nets. With everything surrounding their move to BK, their overhauled roster, and the high expectations to perform under this new spotlight, there is sure to be some intriguing drama and ups and downs that unfolds this season.
In fact, episode 2 already does an amazing job capturing their unique tale... and the season had yet to start. The Nets had to directly deal with the effects of Hurricane Sandy last week as it postponed their much hyped home debut against new crosstown rival New York Knicks, and even kept backup rookie point guard Tyshawn Taylor trapped in his Hoboken apartment for three days. The episode follows both Tyshawn and how the coaches and GM handled the situation (and showcased it just a day after it all went down as the episode premiered Friday). In addition to Sandy, the episode captures the last days of training camp and the pre-season as the team is cut down to 15 players and their superstar and grizzled veteran, Deron Williams and Jerry Stackhouse respectively, are spotlighted. This was a fascinating episode so be sure to catch on above and start setting your DVRs for next week's.
