Ten years ago, home teams wore white uniforms for 97% of NBA playoff games, and alternate jerseys were rarely worn during the postseason. This year, only 32% of playoffs games have featured home teams in white—many fans have voiced a desire for that number go back up—as NBA team’s jersey choices have become more chaotic.
The New York Knicks wore their non-traditional black uniforms at Madison Square Garden for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but the San Antonio Spurs were not allowed to wear their popular Fiesta jerseys for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
This week, Club Sportico talked to the NBA to get the league’s perspective on alternate uniforms during the playoffs, and whether the home whites tradition could ever return, even if only for the Finals.
You can read the full essay at Club Sportico. Here’s an excerpt ✍️:
The San Antonio Spurs opened the NBA Finals at home with another glorious Fiesta night. Just as they’d done in previous rounds, fans wore the team’s 1990s “Fiesta” shades, divided into tangerine, fuchsia and turquoise sections of the arena, to create an awesome visual.
But, unlike in the first two rounds, the team itself was not dressed as colorfully. Despite being cheered on by a giant sherbet menu, the Spurs wore their traditional black instead of their Fiesta jerseys. This wasn’t a surprise—Sportico explained back in April that the NBA requires teams to wear their “primary uniforms” in the conference finals and Finals.
The league’s priorities, though, seemed contradictory to me. If the NBA wants a more classic look for the higher-profile later rounds, then why allow the Spurs to wear black at home, when home teams typically wore white for the league’s first 70 years?
I talked to Christopher Arena, the NBA’s SVP of on-court and brand partnerships, to get his perspective.
“There’s something about world-building as a team hosts a game that they can tell a story wearing whichever uniform they’re wearing,” Arena said. “If in the early rounds, that’s about City Edition and Fiesta and doing t-shirt giveaways that paint the crowd, great. If that’s about a more traditional team like the Knicks and they just want to wear white at home, that’s great too.”
The league does recognize the importance of history—it’s one reason City Edition jerseys are no longer allowed late in the playoffs. The Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets clinched the 2019 and 2023 Finals, respectively, wearing alternates that debuted in those particular seasons and are no longer worn. The NBA understood that this wasn’t ideal.
“When you get to these big, call it trophy, T-shirt, hat moments… there’s something about seeing the teams in their core identities and fans connecting to that,” Arena said.
Don’t expect the home whites tradition to come back, but towards the end of our conversation, Arena seemed open to the idea of having some “dividing line” to distinguish certain games when teams would have to wear white at home.
“You could do just the Finals. You could do conference finals and Finals. You could do all the playoffs, including the play-in. You know, you could do Friday night games,” Arena said.
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