Fansided

The new Timberwolves jerseys are actually good

By Michael Harshbarger

MINNEAPOLIS , MN - JULY 19: (L - R) Scott Layden, General Manager, Jamal Crawford and Tom Thibodeau, President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves speaks to the press regarding signing at The Courts at Mayo Clinic Square on July 19, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS , MN - JULY 19: (L - R) Scott Layden, General Manager, Jamal Crawford and Tom Thibodeau, President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves speaks to the press regarding signing at The Courts at Mayo Clinic Square on July 19, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Minnesota Timberwolves recently revealed their new Nike jerseys. They were not received well. That is the incorrect response.

Has everyone gone completely mad?

Nike’s deal to become the new apparel and uniform provider for the NBA was announced all the way back in June of 2015. Interesting parts of the deal: for the first time ever, the apparel company’s logo would be displayed on the on-court jerseys, and small sponsor logos would be allowed on the upper-right part of the jerseys’ tops.

We are now gearing up for the 2017-18 NBA season. We are finally getting the new Nike uniforms.

Over the last week, NBA teams have been unveiling their new threads and the responses have been mostly positive. That has not been the case for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Nobody liked them?! Why?

Look, I know the NBA has a long history of simple, clean uniforms: the Chicago Bulls, the Boston Celtics, the San Antonio Spurs. We have been conditioned to accept these as the gold standards. And that’s fine. They do look nice. The new Clippers’ jerseys look nice. But this longstanding tradition has also, apparently, made many NBA fans averse to anything new or interesting when it comes to team uniforms. (I will concede that the T-shirt jerseys are terrible.)

The Timberwolves’ new jerseys, specifically the tops, are my favorite of all of the new Nike uniforms that have been released. And it’s not just me being contrarian, or my soccer fandom bleeding over into all of my team apparel opinions. Those things are sharp and different in the best way.

The stripe above the team name. The stripe above that stripe that contains the Nike swoosh and the Fitbit logo. The transition to the secondary color above the collarbones. It’s all dope. It certainly helps that the Wolves have a nice color scheme. The Midnight Navy and Lake Blue and white work very well in this format. I don’t think it would be the best look with, say, the purple and gold of the Lakers.

However, even with all of my admiration for these uniforms, I have to admit that the shorts are…not great. I get what Nike was trying to do. They mirrored the top of the uniforms in the bottom. But the bottom stripe is too chunky, taking up too much real estate.

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I have a creeping suspicion that this is one of those cases where someone thinks everyone else is wrong instead of looking at themselves. I will bury that deep inside. This is the hill I have chosen to die on. And it looks fantastic.

The new uniforms for the Minnesota Timberwolves are good.

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