Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Ranking the Oklahoma City Thunder's alternate jerseys


The Thunder is expected to debut its new “City Edition” jersey on Wednesday, and that gives us a great excuse to look back at all of the alternate jerseys in franchise history. Oklahoman columnist Jenni Carlson last ranked the alternate jerseys during the summer of 2017, and much has changed since then. Here's a look at her rankings of the team's 11 alternates, best to worst:


1. Sunset orange, 2015-2017: The Thunder's most controversial look — apparently, Bedlam is still a big deal in this state — but the uniform was bold in every way. Navy letters, numbers and piping provided a perfect contrast to the orange. And the big, block OKC was outstanding. The whole look stood out in the best ways possible.


2. Turquoise “City Edition,” 2018-19: Another bold look. Another great look. The whole uniform pays homage to Oklahoma's Native American roots with tons of cool details, from the style of the OKC lettering on the jersey to the diamond banding on the shorts. But the best thing about it is the color. That turquoise is sharp.


3. Navy “Statement Edition,” 2017-present: Another awesome addition by Nike, which took over the design of NBA jerseys last season. The combination of main color, navy, along with the orange lettering and lighter blue piping is awesome. The detailing on the back might be the best thing about the jersey, though, with a gradation of blues. Sleet and modern.





4. Christmas jersey, 2016: The blue jersey featured an old-timey, script-looking Thunder running uphill across the front of the jersey. All the lettering and number was white. It was crisp and clean. It was second only to the sunset jerseys until Nike came along.


5. Christmas jersey, 2012: The NBA called them “single-color jerseys.” The blue was a little more electric than normal, and the regular block Thunder lettering across the chest was in that same electric blue with an orange outline. Different in a good way.


6. Christmas jersey, 2015: This was a navy jersey with white trim and piping, sort of a precursor to the Christmas jersey that followed the next year. It had a regalness to it, but it looked so much better the following year in the actual Thunder blue that it made you wonder why the jersey was ever done in navy.


7. Christmas jersey, 2014: Nothing radical. Thunder logo and number on the front, but the back was fun. The names used were the players' first names. Kind of a family feel on a family holiday.