2010-11 NBA Uniforms Improve Performance, Not Looks

by Chris Sesno

Filed under: Magic, Nets, Sports Business and Media

NEW YORK -- I wouldn't call it a revolution, but adidas' new 2010-11 NBA team jerseys could still be game-changers.

At the NBA store in Manhattan on Wednesday, adidas premiered the "Revolution 30" jerseys, with Dwight Howard, Jordan Farmar, Brook Lopez and Wilson Chandler giving media and fans a live walk down "center court" to show off the new get-ups, before working the registers to sell the $350 (suggested retail price) limited-edition jerseys, pictured above, to a few lucky fans.

All 30 teams are switching to the new, redesigned jerseys that are headlined by material that is 30 percent lighter and dries twice as fast as last season's uniforms.

"The old jerseys were a little bit heavier ... especially when they got wet. You sweat in them, they got wet, they got heavy," Farmar said in front of fans and media at the NBA Store. "The numbers were pretty bulky so this just feels a lot sleeker, a lot lighter, the material breathes a lot easier, so it's night and day difference."

Indeed, the most notable change is on the numbering. The old solid, heavy material has been replaced by a new breathable mesh numbering that increases ventilation to one of adidas' targeted "hot spots." The improvement is impossible to miss when you're standing in front of two mannequins with hands-on fabric new and old. The new material is thinner, lighter and stretches more than last year's heavier, denser uniforms.

Combine that with CLIMACOOL fabric (reduces heat by absorbing and drying sweat) and Formotion technology cutting down on seams and friction, and the P.R. pitch about boosting performance on the court is probably true.

But the question is, are people off the court going to care? Fans are more concerned about what these unis are going to look like rather than the intricacies of their creation. Think about the hype surrounding this year's World Cup soccer kits: was the public concerned about the inseam mesh increasing ventilation? No, it was much more about color combinations and aesthetics.

 

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