Ranking Every Leaked NBA City Edition Jersey for the 2024-25 Season
Since 2017, all 30 NBA teams have worn a Nike City Edition jersey, meant to celebrate the city, history and heritage that make each franchise unique. The 2024-25 NBA City Edition jerseys were leaked earlier this month, and the initial reviews are predictably mixed.
Look, it's a tall task to design a completely new jersey that references city connections and franchise history every single year. There are also some elements to the leaked jerseys that are not yet visible, like the side detailing on the Wizards jersey the team itself teased after the leaks.
Still, some of these jerseys make you wonder if it's time to move away from the concept and start fresh. On the other hand, there are some stunners that rank among their respective franchise's best-ever specialty jerseys.
Let's break down all the hits and misses as we rank the leaked 2024-25 City Edition jerseys from worst to best.
30. Los Angeles Lakers
1 of 30
Come on. Who is walking around earnestly calling the Los Angeles Lakers the Lake Show in Our Year of the Lord 2024? Additionally, there's a difference between a tasteful gradient and a Microsoft paint ombre attempt.
29. Miami Heat
2 of 30
Nike really slaps "Culture" on every piece of Heat attire and calls it a day. You're not getting away with it this time, fellas!
Whatever happened to the Miami Vice branding? Can we bring that back?
28. Minnesota Timberwolves
3 of 30
What in the Microsoft XP screensaver is going on here, and why is it nearly identical to last year's Timberwolves jersey? There's much more to Minnesota than the lakes, and we've seen you do much better than this between the Prince concept in 2018-19 and the Wolves '90s vibe in 2021-22.
27. Boston Celtics
4 of 30
If you're going to bore us with the reigning champions' City Edition jersey, please do so with any color other than highlighter green. Underwhelming and ugly all in one is an accomplishment.
Not to be dramatic, but I was trying to figure out what about this bothers me so existentially. I realized it reminds me of the grayscale modernization of all the McDonald's and other fast food joints. The children yearn for Ronald McDonald. The children yearn for Lucky the Leprechaun.
This jersey is all the worst things about minimalism plus a rancid green screaming: "We're not like the other minimalists. We're worse!"
26. Sacramento Kings
5 of 30
I'm sorry, is this AAU, One Tree Hill or the National Basketball Association?
25. Golden State Warriors
6 of 30
Me when I place a three-team parlay on the Warriors, the Nuggets and the Pelicans.
24. Brooklyn Nets
7 of 30
If you're gonna be ugly, at least be fun, and that's why I can at least appreciate these Nets jerseys. Still, as is a theme with these City Editions, it's too similar to previous iterations.
23. Indiana Pacers
8 of 30
Isn't there something pretty big involving cars in Indiana? Isn't it, like, the biggest car thing ever? Why aren't we leaning into that? It's one thing if Pacers fans are sick of the Indy 500 references at this point—that's understandable. But the graffiti theme is indistinguishable from any other city.
22. Charlotte Hornets
9 of 30
The pistachio ice cream franchise of the NBA, the Charlotte Hornets, is finally dressing accordingly. This jersey is unremarkable but sort of bad, which is entirely too on-brand. At the very least, we've escaped Buzz City.
21. Portland Trail Blazers
10 of 30
Many are sick of the Rip City thing, but I'm not that much of a hater. I still think it's cute, but it's the design that gets me. It just feels like something an intramural team would wear.
20. Oklahoma City Thunder
11 of 30
Where the Celtics' City Editions are very boring and very ugly, the Thunder's are slightly boring and slightly ugly. Progress!
19. Atlanta Hawks
12 of 30
These are so unremarkable that I almost forgot to include them, but considering the look of some of the worst of the bunch, that's almost a compliment. The Atlanta Hawks' City Editions are inoffensive, and I guess we'll take it.
18. Dallas Mavericks
13 of 30
I kind of like these from an aesthetic perspective. They're clean and the font is cool. If I'm a Mavericks fan, though, there's something to be desired. Maybe a splash of hometown color or a little more of an homage to the city would round this out—although the skyline at the bottom works.
17. San Antonio Spurs
14 of 30
It's cute! The font is fun! But it's pretty similar to last year's iteration, and there's just not much to the jersey. I do appreciate the blue tint in the body and the green "fiesta" vibes at the collar. I also appreciate how different it is from the standard unis. Maybe the number aspect on the back will be a little more interesting to look at?
16. Houston Rockets
15 of 30
It looks like a font you'd find on the silliest end of the Microsoft powerpoint spectrum, but maybe graphic design is Houston's passion. I'm a sucker for an "H-Town" reference, and it's more of a "City" Edition than most of these.
15. Washington Wizards
16 of 30
The District of Columbia stuff is predictable and easy as a City Edition concept for Washington, but at least there's a city concept. I like the font even if I could've seen it coming a million miles away. I'm also just glad the team is actually staying in the city it's claiming, but that's a story for a different day.
14. Milwaukee Bucks
17 of 30
Sure, we'll take it! Fun, clean, modern font and a good color scheme. Not much else to say about these.
13. New York Knicks
18 of 30
We're officially venturing into "decidedly decent jersey" territory with the Knicks' City Editions. The lettering is fun, the color scheme works and the overall product is solid.
12. Los Angeles Clippers
19 of 30
This Clippers' City Edition might be the most controversial jersey of the bunch, but I like them and I'm not afraid to say it. I love the little basketball as the dot in the i. This is supposed to be fun! This is supposed to be a special-edition thing! Let's bring back genuinely fun designs for these things, or what's the point?
11. Orlando Magic
20 of 30
Apparently the Dallas Cowboys and the San Antonio Spurs had a lovechild, and it became a Florida Man wearing this Orlando Magic jersey. I think it's fun and kind of hilarious, but given the Spurs-ness of it all, I'm not sure I'm running to purchase it if I'm a Magic fan.
10. Detroit Pistons
21 of 30
I genuinely like this one for a few reasons. The lettering is unique, big enough and clean. The coloring is equally unique yet clean. If you're going to have a bare-bones design and no real deviation via club or city nickname, this is exactly how you need to do it.
9. Chicago Bulls
22 of 30
It's clean, it's legible and I'm a sucker for lettering outlines that are the same color as the outline of the jersey itself. It feels cohesive as a concept, is enough of a deviation from the Bulls' usual jerseys and is street-wearable all at once. I'd probably buy this if I were a Bulls fan looking for more neutrals to add to my wardrobe.
8. Denver Nuggets
23 of 30
I know some of us have elevation-reference fatigue and are sick of the Denver teams always flexing how high up they are. But I'm all for using the unique traits of your city as the concept for these jerseys—wasn't that supposed to be the point?
5280 discourse aside, this is funky and fun. I'm excited to see Nikola Jokić wear this, and isn't that what it's all about?
7. Utah Jazz
24 of 30
We get it, there are mountains in Utah. Still, I cannot get enough of the purple and blue concept with the mountains. I particularly love the spooky-ish lettering and the mountains surrounding the "Utah" as well.
This design is nailing the interesting-to-look-at to clean ratio that so many of these City Editions are lacking. Gradients can really help blend it all together, folks!
6. Cleveland Cavaliers
25 of 30
If your franchise is lucky enough to have a nickname as effortless and recognizable as "The Land," you'd better get some mileage out of it. The lettering of "The Land" looks spectacular to boot, and the designers didn't just call it a day after slapping it on, which is unfortunately prevalent throughout this collection.
The baby blue looks lovely. I'm sold.
5. New Orleans Pelicans
26 of 30
Perhaps no other City Edition in this batch captures the actual essence of the city like the Pelicans'. You can't go wrong with a tasteful Mardi Gras theme, and they nailed it with this one. Simple but effective, meaningful colors that pack a punch, and the city's nickname. Well done!
4. Memphis Grizzlies
27 of 30
This jersey is a callback to the 1970-75 Memphis Sounds of the ABA, and it pays homage to the franchise in all the right ways.
The font screams both "Memphis" and "'70s" with an authentic newness. There isn't too much else going on, and there doesn't need to be—that's where you can separate the bad simplicity from the good.
The Celtics' black jersey was boring, the font was even more of a snoozefest, and the pop of highlighter green was a lazy attempt to make it all look interesting. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies' red jersey provides the color splash, the lettering is fun, and it's all a reference worth making.
3. Philadelphia 76ers
28 of 30
The font is just so "Sixers," as is the familiar Spectrum uniform concept. I love the traditional red and blue piping at the top with the nod to the Spectrum, where the 76ers played from 1967 to '96, on the sides.
Sure, it's pretty standard and not deviating too far from a typical Sixers jersey, but there's something about Philly that makes you want to rock the classics, whether it's the Broad Street Bullies era or the Spectrum era. When the classics are this fun, you don't have to mess with them too hard.
2. Phoenix Suns
29 of 30
Yes, just yes. Between the Mercury and the Suns, the Phoenix professional basketball teams are doing it right with alternate jerseys recently. Often the best-worst specialty jerseys find inspiration from whatever the franchise was doing in the '90s, and you get an elevated version of that with the Suns' City Editions.
The Valley reference is top-tier, the color scheme is familiar and fun, and the lettering tells the story the rest of the jersey is trying to tell. The star is cute because it's not trying to be serious; it's trying to be cute. The Aztec pattern on the sides is a nice touch, and the pop of color is the cherry on top to make this a top-two City Edition jersey this year.
1. Toronto Raptors
30 of 30
Look, the Raptors play the jersey game on easy mode with the coolest team name and coolest potential concepts in all of sports. But that comes with more pressure to execute, and they almost always manage to come up with amazing stuff. This year's Raptors City Edition might be one of my favorites of all time, between the look of it and the nod to Vince Carter, who's set to enter the Hall of Fame next month.
The Raptors have deviated from the Dino for the past few years, and I actually like that approach to prevent Dino fatigue. Now headed into the franchise's 30th anniversary season, the Dino is back in a big way, front and center, no lettering necessary.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
