Picking every NBA team’s best uniform: ’90s maximalism, iconic standards, city editions among top looks

Recently, we ranked every NBA uniform going into the 2025-26 season, and something became clear as that project progressed: very few teams are actually wearing their best uniforms anymore. Ask a fan to pick their favorite jersey for their favorite team and it’s almost always going to be a throwback. Modern rebrands are hit or miss at best.

Design in the NBA has taken a significant step back in the 21st century. This has been felt acutely with the league’s logos, which have become increasingly homogenous, but it’s also impacting uniforms as well. Modern minimalism is depriving the sport of character. Jerseys are often just a single word against a monochromatic background with few noticeable design backgrounds. Teams no longer feel distinct. In fact, with the constant wave of revamps and the annual City and Statement editions, it’s not uncommon for fans to complain about turning on a game and not immediately knowing who’s playing.

Some of this is driven by understandable motives. The NBA releases new jerseys every year because they want fans to buy new jerseys every year. New logos are circular because that is the standard shape for social media profile pictures. But there are real if intangible effects to this loss of visual identity for teams. More and more fans grow up rooting for individual players rather than teams. There are a lot of reasons for that, but one of them is probably the reality that there is just less and less with each passing year that makes a team stand out visually. It’s hard to feel connected to a team that wears five different jerseys during a season and then swaps out three of them a year later.

So we’re going to try to fix this problem by imagining a different sort of NBA, an aesthetically perfect version of the league we’re all watching. In this world, teams are allowed to wear only a single uniform from now until the end of time. When that uniform clashes with an opponent’s, the only allowable alternative will be the white version of that same look. The goal of this project is simple. If each team was only allowed to pick one jersey it has ever worn to wear for all of its games moving forward, which one would it pick?

We’ll begin the process of answering that question, but first, here are the criteria we used in the 2025-26 uniform rankings, as those will guide us with this project as well.

• Color scheme. Is a team mixing colors that actually work well together? Is it using too many or too few colors?
• Theming. Does a uniform just say a word, or does it actively invoke the feeling of the team’s name? Is the design connected to the team’s home city? Essentially, does it feel as though the team’s name and city were actually relevant components of the design process, or could these uniforms have been slapped together for any old team?
• Uniqueness. Does the uniform have some design factor that is either rare across the league, or at least rarely executed well?
• History. The Celtics have relatively simple uniforms. They’ve won 18 championships wearing them. We love them because they’re iconic, not because they represent peak design. A team’s history in its uniforms matter.
• Coolness. This is subjective. You know it when you see it. Is a jersey cool or not?

And so, with all of that in mind, let’s perfect the NBA’s aesthetic experience.

Boston Celtics: 1998-2014 Standard green and white

Virtually every Celtics jersey looks the same, so we’re mostly picking nits here. We’re looking for a more modern iteration, though, because the Celtics didn’t start wearing a clover on their belt line until 1998, which is a nice little addition. However, we’re sticking with the 1998-2014 incarnation because both jerseys say “Celtics” instead of “Boston.” The green and white color scheme more closely associates with the team name than the city name, so that feels slightly more appropriate. You can’t really go wrong with any baseline Celtics jersey, but by a hair, these are the best of them. 

Toronto Raptors: 1997-99 Big Raptor

The Raptors more or less got it right the first time. The 1997 update to their original look was subtle, but helpful, removing the unnecessary black background to the text. Otherwise, these are perfectly goofy. The giant dinosaur makes a statement, and the jagged text evokes a prehistoric feel. My favorite little detail? The Raptor is itself wearing a jersey, but it just has the letter “R” on the chest. The Raptors have never worn such a jersey. What team is he playing for?

Philadelphia 76ers: 1976-77 Red, white and blue

The Iverson-era jerseys are gorgeous and would be missed as a possible alternate choice, but come on, a team named the Philadelphia 76ers needs to wear red, white and blue. It largely has, and this is the best version of that jersey. The star detailing on the side is a necessary flair. The darker blue is not only more accurate than its modern counterpart, but more accurate to the flag as well. Once again, we prefer a team name on the chest to a city name, as the modern jerseys say “Phila” instead of “Sixers,” and as readers of our modern uniform rankings know, I loathe half-words on jerseys.

Brooklyn Nets: 2018-19 Biggie City Edition

Any of the old red, white and blue jerseys would have felt wrong in a world in which the 76ers are wearing those same colors less than 100 miles away. This was therefore an easy choice. The Biggie-inspired trim gives a team that relocated to Brooklyn fairly recently some badly-needed local flare, and it contrasts perfectly with the black and white of the standard Nets jersey. There’s a reason the Nets are bringing these back this season.

New York Knicks: 1997-2001 Standard blue and orange

As is the case with the Celtics, there isn’t too much much variation where the Knicks are concerned. Almost all of their jerseys are relatively simple and come in blue and orange. The late-90s edition wins on a few minor details. The V-neck fits a New York team better than a crewneck does. Those sharper edges feel more appropriate for the big city. The slight slant in the side detailing is also a rarity in NBA design, where straight lines are the norm. You can’t really go wrong with a Knicks jersey, but these are their best.

Atlanta Hawks: 1995-1999 Big Hawk

This is the perfect NBA jersey. Every inch of the space, even the negative space, is maximized. The giant hawk makes it clear what team this is, yet, but it’s also on-theme as a basketball jersey. Wingspan is one of the most important physical traits in basketball, and here we have a hawk literally spreading its wings as a defender spreads his arms. The number, tucked away on the upper chest, is visible without dominating the entire jersey. The transition from black on the top to red on the bottom is seamless. Even the little details like the claw serving as the space in the “A” in “Hawks” are flawless. It’s a travesty that these aren’t still in use.

Miami Heat: 2018-19 City Edition Miami Vice

Their standard is perhaps more fitting for a team called the “Heat,” but no jersey in the NBA better captures the local vibe than Miami’s Vice editions. They’ve tried several versions of it, but the predominantly blue and pink editions are just a bit too loud for an everyday uniform. The black base works perfectly, sending the message without beating you over the head with it. The Heat are wisely bringing these back as their City Editions this season after the ridiculous ransom note 2022-23 jerseys and the “Heat Culture” abominations of the past two years.

Orlando Magic: 1996-97 Blue pinstripes

This was probably the hardest decision on the entire list. The 1998 revamp tries something fairly unique in basketball jerseys by filling the blank space with a starry background, and it works really well. The black pinstripes of their first five seasons are probably the most iconic version of their uniform. But the blue pinstripes do the best job of tying all of these ideas together. A lighter color scheme makes sense for a team called the “Magic,” and pinstripes are almost a universal winner in uniforms. The smaller star dotting the “i” in Magic on the white version plays better than the bigger one in the starry background jerseys because it makes the “i” look like a magic wand, which is a nice touch.

Charlotte Hornets: Standard modern teal and white

Charlotte’s look became iconic in the 90s, and the rounder, more cartoonish logo was indeed better at the time. But in terms of the uniform rather than the logo, the modern update is superior. The multi-colored stripes on the 90s version are just a bit too busy, and the sharper font on the contemporary edition feels more appropriate for a team called the “Hornets.” The subtle stingers on the “H” and “S” in “Hornets” are a sorely underrated touch, and the hornet silhouette on the shorts ties the whole look together. 

Washington Wizards: 2022-23 City Edition cherry blossoms

The old teal uniforms with the half moons over the “i” in “Wizards” were certainly more thematically appropriate, but this team seems almost ashamed of its name given how heavily it leans into the red, white and blue iconography of Washington D.C. The cherry blossom alternates are the only uniforms this team has ever had that actually feels appropriate for both the team’s name and its city. The pink feels a bit more magical, and it’s a far rarer color in NBA uniforms. There’s more to Washington D.C. than politics, and it’s nice to see a jersey convey that.

Indiana Pacers: 1997-2005 Pinstripes

You could make a compelling argument for the racing stripe jerseys of the 80s. They’re certainly the most thematic Pacer jerseys. But man, you cannot top the cool factor of Indiana’s pinstripes. It is so hard to make a jersey with this much yellow look tough, but that’s what the pinstripes accomplish here. Few throwbacks in all of basketball transport you back to an era as effectively as these do. Catch a glimpse of that navy and yellow and you just know neither team is scoring 80 points.

Chicago Bulls: 1986-2006 Standard red, white and black

This was another of the hardest choices on the list. The black pinstripes from the end of the Michael Jordan era are, in my opinion, the coolest jerseys the NBA has ever produced. But they were alternates, and it would just feel wrong not to pick the standard red, white and black of the Michael Jordan era, which is quite possibly the most iconic jersey in league history. The Pacer pinstripes take you back in time, but Chicago’s base uniforms are timeless. They’ll never go out of style and will forever remain some of the best uniforms the NBA has to offer.

Milwaukee Bucks: 1995-1999 Big Buck alternate

This is another take on what made those Hawks jerseys, ironically in use for the same exact stretch, so effective. The buck isn’t as thematically appropriate for basketball as the hawk is, but the jersey serves as an effective canvas for the art in other ways. The forest green background feels naturalistic, as if the buck is in its natural habitat, yet the buck itself is ethereal, as if it’s spiritually supporting the player rather than literally taking the court as the hawk does. This is how you effectively take advantage of all of the space on a jersey rather than just slapping a word on a tank top.

Detroit Pistons: 2001-04 Horse shorts

The Pistons are NBA design trends personified. They generally wore basic uniforms for the first 50 years or so of their existence. Then they dove into the deep end of 90s maximalism with a new teal jersey and a fire horse mascot. And then, as quickly as it arrived, it vanished as Detroit retreated back into minimalism around the turn of the century. And hey, I get it. This is a blue collar city. It probably wants an understated uniform. But one of my staunchest uniform beliefs is that the fire horse died for teal’s sins. The fire horse worked. Turning the two “S’s” in “Pistons” into exhaust pipes and leaning into the horsepower concept was thematically brilliant. If they’d just chilled with the color scheme, this could’ve and should’ve been a permanent look. Alas, we never got that artwork on a simple, blue jersey, and the red version washes out the horse’s fire hair. Instead, we’ll take the jerseys they wore as their won their third championship, which at least acknowledge the existence of the fire horse on the shorts. I would argue that little logo is proof that the horse could have been adapted more prominently into their traditional color scheme, but that battle was lost decades ago.

Cleveland Cavaliers: 1983-85 Standard orange and white

It’s somewhat surprising that only two teams, the Knicks and Suns, really embrace the color orange since, you know, it’s the color of the ball. That’s why Cleveland’s orange and white color scheme from the mid-80s was so effective. It’s the color of the ball and the color of the net. And wouldn’t you know it, the Cavaliers leaned into that by making the “V” on their jersey a net. It’s somewhat ironic since so many future Cavaliers jerseys would more effectively showcase the team’s name and theme with aggressive fonts and strategic slash marks, but it’s ultimately the broadest design that has proven the most memorable. Other teams could have potentially played with the concept… but they didn’t, so Cleveland now has ownership over one of the simplest successful uniforms the league has ever seen.

Los Angeles Lakers: 2005-2014 Standard purple and gold

Purple and gold. Not banana yellow. When a Laker jersey gets the color right, it’s an automatic winner. Sure enough, the best Laker jersey is the simplest version of that concept. By the Kobe Bryant era the Lakers had dropped the heavily shadowed numbers of Showtime, and justifiably so. Let the colors and the memories do the heavy lifting here. Laker jerseys should be simple and sleek, and this is when they perfected that formula. Why they decided to turn the brightness up 300% when LeBron James arrived, I will never know.

Sacramento Kings: 1998-2002 Purple alternates

We’re throwing anything out before the color change. Purple is the color of royalty, so no red, white and blue jerseys will do here. The only question here is whether the black or purple iteration of the Chris Webber era look is superior. Ultimately, it’s better to showcase your team’s primary color. The shorts add enough black to keep it interesting, but a team that’s called the “Kings” should lean heavily into the purple and use a fairly simple design. In the wise words of Tywin Lannister, “any man who must say ‘I am the king’ is no true king.” There’s no need to beat anyone over the head with royalty. Let the color do the work and keep any distracting designs to a minimum.

Golden State Warriors: 2010-2014 Standard blue and yellow

The Warriors have made subtle tweaks to their blue and yellow base fairly frequently in the past 15 years, but they ultimately got it right the first time with a more detailed color and the California map logo on the belt. As we covered in the 2025-26 rankings, the Warriors are the only team to successfully use circular text on a jersey because it blends so seamlessly into the artwork. They’re clean, distinct, and thanks to Stephen Curry, iconic.

Phoenix Suns: 1994-2000 Black sunburst alternates

This is a situation where the cool factor outweighs realism. A jersey evoking a sunrise probably should have a purple background as a sunrise doesn’t come instantly out of the black of night, and sure enough, Phoenix’s base uniform in this era was purple. But boy, the black alternate is just cooler, and it tells a different sort of story, as if the Suns are the only thing saving Phoenix from the cold, desert night. Shoutout to their original, western-themed look. It had a real shot at this list, but another team pulled off that look just as well and didn’t have these beauties to compete against.

Los Angeles Clippers: 1990-2000 Standard red, white and blue

Clipper jerseys have a somewhat unique task. More than anything else, all Clipper branding has to feel distinct from the Lakers. That’s the most important job here, and the 90s era uniform did it best. Though the slogan wouldn’t come into use until decades later, the clean red, white and blue sets up the whole “streetlights vs. spotlights” concept well. The Lakers are Hollywood’s team. The Clippers are for the real citizens of Los Angeles. The white script looks like a shoelace, a pretty underused motif if jersey design and one that effectively underlines that underdog theme. They’ve stuck with the script and the color scheme in subsequent redesigns, but they’ve never quite recaptured that feeling since.

Dallas Mavericks: 1981-84 Standard green, blue and white

Remember how we mentioned another team nailed the western motif in the Suns section? Well, this is it. These jerseys make you feel like you just walked into a saloon at high noon. No jersey font has ever had this much personality. The enormous numbers work in an “everything’s bigger in Texas” sort of way. And then there’s that stellar throwback logo with the cowboy hat. I’m a defender of the modern horse logo, but the Mavericks have never successfully adapted that idea into a jersey. Everything about this brand identity rolls together perfectly.

San Antonio Spurs: Modern standard black, white and silver

The Spurs have been tinkering with the same basic uniform concept for 50 years, but they’ve only mastered it within the past decade. Two minor changes pushed it over the top. The first was swapping out the crewneck for a V-neck. Spurs are sharp and the jerseys should reflect that. The second was the removing of the outlining on the font. These are meant to be clean and simple jerseys with only a single notable design element in the spur on the “U.” The cleaner text is a better fit, and the whole look comes together as one of the best in the modern NBA.

Houston Rockets: 1995-2003 Standard navy, red and white

This is going to be controversial. Some argue that this is roughly where cartoonish 90s jerseys, excuse the pun given the paint job on the rocket, jumped the shark. Well… what’s the alternative? Where is the other Rockets jersey that has a single interesting design element? They peaked organizationally wearing ketchup and mustard-shaded monstrosities in the 90s. The past two decades have given us some of the most boring jerseys in the NBA. Their City Editions are occasionally good, but rarely all that experimental. The Rockets are not the Celtics. They can’t get away with simplicity on the basis of their history. Love them or hate them, these are the only Rockets jerseys that have ever really tried anything. They took a big risk. Opinions on whether they hit or missed vary wildly, but these jerseys are distinct and at least connect thematically to their team name and city. That’s all we can ask for out of a bad crop of jerseys.

New Orleans Pelicans: 2023-24 City Edition VooDoo

The Pelicans are interesting in that their baseline uniforms are bad across the board, yet most of their alternates are actually pretty good. The Mardi Gras jerseys? A clear winner. The Fleur-de-lis City Editions in 2021? Solid. New Orleans has so much cultural flavor for artists to draw off of that there are always a number of interesting directions the Pelicans can take. The best of the best were the black and green VooDoo jerseys from the 2023-24 season. Clean, local and intimidating, these should be staples. They tinkered with a purple version of the jerseys last season but wisely went back to black this year.

Memphis Grizzlies: 1995-2000 Standard teal and white

This one was agonizing because a part of me really believes that last year’s City Edition, inspired by the ABA’s Memphis Sounds, were the best jerseys the Grizzlies ever wore. They were so good that you could make a compelling argument that the Grizzlies should change their name. After all, the Grizzlies moniker was chosen for Vancouver, while the Sounds would be a more appropriate name for a team in Memphis given its significance in musical history. But ultimately, the team is called the Grizzlies, therefore we should be looking for a jersey that fits, well, the Grizzlies, and fortunately, the jerseys they wore in Vancouver more than qualify. The claw marks on the text push it over the top. The teal may be a bit out of date, but it’s those little details that make a design feel intentional and memorable.

Portland Trail Blazers: 1992-2002 Standard red, black and white

This is the last of the “they’ve been using the same basic idea forever and they’re all good” teams. The 90s were just the peak. The addition of the smaller grey layer to the stripe in 2002 just wasn’t helpful, and the red text on the white jerseys pops significantly more than the black that replaced it at the same time. The stripe starts a bit too high on the newer versions as well, looking almost like a seatbelt in a way that gets a bit distracting. You can’t really go wrong with a Blazers jersey, but this is the version that stands out.

Denver Nuggets: 1986-1991 Standard rainbow

The Nuggets have gone all over the uniform map throughout their history. The pickaxe jersey has the distinction of being the only jersey a non-playing head coach has ever worn during a game. The powder blue jerseys from the Carmelo Anthony era are a nice reminder of the Rocky Mountain locale. But the rainbow jerseys are easily Denver’s best. It’s such a simple idea. Why should a team lock itself into only a few colors when it can use all of them? Incorporating the negative space into the white jerseys as the mountains themselves is a very nice touch. There aren’t other jerseys like these. No wonder the Nuggets keep going back to this well for alternates.

Minnesota Timberwolves: 1997-2008 Black tree trim alternates

This is a “best jersey in NBA history” candidate. The font not only matches the team name theme, but looks almost frigid, perfect for a team that plays in Minnesota. The tree trim is the best trim any any uniform has ever had and again maintains the appropriate theming for the region and team name. And that’s all this jersey needs. Simple colors and a clean design with clear and memorable iconography. It checks every box and it’s embarrassing that the Timberwolves ever saw a reason to abandon these jerseys. They’re coming back as an alternate this year, and hopefully that clears the way for them to eventually make a full-time return.

Utah Jazz: 1996-2004 Standard mountain jerseys

The mountain jersey is one of the NBA’s funnier quirks. It’s a perfect geographic design in almost every way… except for the word “Jazz” plastered across the chest. That team name obviously originated in New Orleans, where it was far more appropriate. It probably never should have traveled to Utah, but it did, and that’s part of what makes these jerseys such a treat. Finally, after almost two decades in Utah, they got a uniform that reflected their new hometown. They just couldn’t get an appropriate new name with it, and the designers opted against the obvious choice to put “Utah” on the front of the jerseys. So yes, the mountain background is gorgeous and the colors blend together seamlessly, but it’s that little bit of funny team history that pushes these jerseys over the top. They’re Utah’s team now, but they haven’t totally abandoned their New Orleans roots.

Oklahoma City Thunder: 2018-19 City Edition Native American heritage

There just isn’t much competition here. The Native American heritage jerseys might be the only legitimately good jersey the Thunder have ever worn. It has a pretty unique design concept with its emphasis on triangles, and it obviously ties into the local culture and history. If we were building a truly aesthetically perfect NBA, we’d move the Thunder back to Seattle and pick from one of the many, many gorgeous jerseys the Sonics wore over the years. Alas, that’s beyond the parameters of this exercise, so if we could pick any jersey for the Thunder to wear for the rest of their existence, these are our only reasonable choices.