The Sixers tapped ESPN to unveil the latest Nike has to offer in on-court uniforms and the Philly team is paying homage to a legendary fictional character.
While there have been a handful of leaks of Nike x NBA City Edition uniforms for the 2018-2019 season, the Philadelphia 76ers have made an official announcement of their new alternate jersey ahead of its on-court debut.
The jersey ditches any city or team wordmark for 13 stars (seven on top and six on bottom) that surround the jersey number which is white with blue drop shadowing. You might also notice these stars perfectly match those that circled the ring during the Creed-Balboa fight in the film, which was a “happy coincidence,” according to ESPN.
The jersey uses the teams red, white, and blue colors for trim across a heather grey base, a reference to the iconic training Sylvester Stallone does in Rocky (he dons a grey sweatsuit for those grueling workouts). The organization wanted to add a gold waistband to the shorts to represent a boxing championship title but eventually settled on the more conservative Sixers colors and alternate “Ballin’ Ben” logo (Ben Franklin, that is).
According to the NBA’s new Lockervision site, the 76ers will debut this City Edition uniform on-court November 9. The uniform pieces’ release date for consumers has not been specified but you can expect them sometime around that date as other teams will be debuting their own editions around the same date.
What do you think about this new set for Philly? Be sure to drop a comment below with your thoughts.
Inspired by the city… for the city.@StubHub x #HereTheyCome
? » https://t.co/yfVdNPpUtF https://t.co/W7qvvIY9SI— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 30, 2018
Source: Zach Lowe, ESPN / Images via Philadelphia 76ers
Not that bad at all.
I would’ve loved if they included the gold at the belt!
If they had Apollo’s shorts as the uniform shorts, they’d be the instant GOAT uniforms.