Reaction: Celtics unveil Nike “City” uniforms

Nike unveiled the Celtics fourth uniform, the “City Edition,” on Wednesday. While the shoe kings knocked it out of the park with Boston’s “Statement Edition” uniforms, these new joints leave much to be desired.

When it was announced this past summer that the Boston Celtics were to build on their collection of uniforms with the design gods of Nike, fans breathed a heavy sigh of relief as they could finally bury their sleeved “Parquet” jerseys from years passed.

Now, the grey uniforms have returned in the form of Nike’s “City” collection, the fourth and final installment of uniforms for the 2017-18 season.

For those who were looking forward to a fresh jersey take, something we have yet to see before, this release offers nothing but disappointment. The sleeved grey jerseys caught the ire of many Celtics supporters, as a Los Angeles Lakers t-shirt was easier to find in TD Garden then the “Parquet” name and number combo on game days over the past few seasons.

Now, they have returned, and the reasoning behind them is enough to make your eyes roll. The purpose of Nike’s “City” jersey design was to create a uniform that would reflect certain aspects of the city in which a team plays in. The uniform would embody the history of each team’s city and come equipped with a story. It could be influenced by a building within the city, an event that occurred in the area or the people who reside there.

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The designers of the Celtics uniform had almost too much material to work with. They could have done a primarily gold jersey with green lettering, propelled by the golden dome that beams atop the Massachusetts State House. They could have gone a shade darker in their tradition green uniforms to showcase the Boston Common area, with trees affixed into the lining of the uniforms.

Designing a white uniform to encapsulate the amount of snow New England receives was an option. Or, the team could have gone the Utah Jazz route and gone against the grain, creating a maple-colored uniform to represent the tremendous foliage exhibited in the region each autumn.

Instead, the “City” uniform hardly represents the city of Boston. The design within the grey uniform is modeled after the parquet floor. If the motivation behind the apparel was the parquet floor, why isn’t the jersey wood-colored? The key cog in the uniform is a “2008 NBA Champions” banner on the belt buckle which replicates that which hangs from the TD Garden rafters. The Celtics already have an insignia on their uniforms that shows their success, as the back of each collar has a gold patch telling how many championships the team has won.

You could make the argument that putting the championship banner on the belt buckle of the shorts reflects the city of Boston’s championship pedigree. While this explanation seems like a layup, Nike does not acknowledge it in their description of the uniform. If this was the case, a better solution would be to put the area code of the city in the belt buckle or something to at least address the fact that the Celtics play in Boston.

Why is the jersey grey, you ask? Because it is the color of unity. This could apply to any other city, and any other team could make their jerseys grey and preface it with the explanation that their team brings the city or region together.

What makes this uniform release bothersome is that Nike hit the nail on the head with most of the other “City” uniforms. On the Golden State Warriors edition, a silhouette of the Golden Gate Bridge is surrounded by Chinese symbolism in the middle of the jersey, featuring a landmark of the Bay Area and embracing San Francisco’s Chinatown, an area which greatly impacted the grand diversity of the city.

On the Cleveland Cavaliers uniform, the state of Ohio graces the belt buckle while the sides of the uniforms pay tribute to the sandstone sculptures that welcome travelers to the city when they arrive by way of the Hope Memorial Bridge. The Milwaukee Bucks cream uniform embodies its “Cream City” moniker, and the blue stripe atop the jersey flashes the city’s riverside location.

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Nike failed to catch any attributes of Boston in their “City” uniform, and we will be reminded of that each time the Celtics hit the floor sporting these jerseys.