In January, the NBA announced their list of best-selling merchandise for the current season to date. As you might have guessed, LeBron James’ jersey is at the top of the list (all those Cavs fans that burned their jerseys in 2010 had to get new ones, right?). One product that won’t be atop a best-seller list anytime soon is the short-sleeved jersey.
“Modern” short-sleeved jerseys were introduced two years ago, and have received mostly negative reviews ranging from players saying they’re uncomfortable to fans calling them ugly. Any research that might have suggested this rollout was a good idea has quickly been refuted.
The jerseys frankly aren’t selling well. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said that if players don’t like the jerseys the league would have to put an end to it’s experiment. Does that mean this is the last year we’ll see them on players? Maybe.
One encouraging sign is that this year’s All-Star Game jerseys are back to being sleeve-free. The NBA and Adidas are listening to their consumers and going with a more retro look this year. Chris Grancio, Adidas global basketball general manager, says that the uniforms will “pay homage to New York and All-Star weekend,” taking inspiration from “the rich basketball and cultural heritage of the city.”
This is a move that makes sense. Whether you’re at a summer music festival or at an NBA arena, retro jerseys are almost unavoidable. It’s not like getting rid of sleeved jerseys is going to alienate customers, they can always buy a shirsey.
R.I.P. Sleeved NBA jerseys 2013-2015.
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