Ranking the Best NBA All-Star Jerseys of All Time
The NBA revealed its 2025 All-Star game jerseys on Feb. 6, and they're among the best we've seen in years.
The design got us thinking: What are the best All-Star kits in league history?
Answering that question requires a lot of subjectivity, but simplicity (or complexity), how each jersey spoke to the year or city it represented and even the players who wore it were all considered too.
Without further delay, here are the 10 best NBA All-Star jerseys we've ever seen in action.
10. 1985 Through 1990
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Some might think the "NBA" emblazoned across the top is too big. There's not a ton of creativity with this one, either.
But there's something satisfying about the simplicity of this design. It also gets a slight nudge for being the jersey worn by Michael Jordan from his rookie year through his sixth campaign.
The league stuck with these for just over a half-decade.
9. 1951 Through 1961
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It's tough to fully appreciate the OG All-Star game jerseys through a black-and-white photograph. You can get a better sense of the color when you look at them on the Basketball Jersey Database.
There, you can see what made these early uniforms so cool. The simplicity. The stars around the numbers. Even the belt on the waistband (through 1957) is a fun detail.
It's not hard to see why the NBA stuck with this concept for more than a decade.
8. 2008
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In 2008, overly baggy jerseys were still in style. So, some of the pictures of these jerseys might look dated, but the design was a nice nod to New Orleans without abandoning the red, blue and white color scheme that's been in place for most All-Star jerseys.
The font for "East," "West" and the numbers is a clear reference to the city without being overbearing (which is how you might describe the 2014 jerseys).
This game has the added benefit of featuring some of the most popular players of the mid- to late-2000s, including Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony.
7. 2016
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In 2016, we got another jersey that was relatively simple. It went with the classic red, white and blue color scheme and gave some subtle nods to the host city.
The maple leaf silhouettes on the side of the shorts are in reference to Toronto, Canada. The three scratch marks in those stars tell you the Raptors played there.
The 2016 All-Star game being Kobe Bryant's last doesn't hurt, either.
6. 1997 Through 2002
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There was something fun about players wearing their own team's jerseys in the All-Star Game in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Going with white jerseys vs. dark jerseys prevented it from getting confusing. And seeing several different uniforms on the court at once gave these games an abundance of color that the rest of history's All-Star Games didn't have.
It's surprising that the league has yet to fully embrace this approach in any year since 2002, although they got about halfway there in 2018 and 2019.
5. 1978
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Our image database doesn't have any pictures of the 1978 All-Star Game, so you have to jump back to the Basketball Jersey Database to see the color and design.
Once you're there, you'll see a fun design with stars and stripes all the way from the right shoulder to the right knee. The way that "East Stars" and "West Stars" frame the jersey numbers is cool, too.
Add legends like David Thompson, Bill Walton, Julius Erving and George Gervin, and it's easy to see how this one made the cut.
4. 2024
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We're going all the way back to February 2024 for the No. 4 jerseys, which have a bit of a retro feel while still being unique.
The simple star, "All-Star" across the chest and red and blue colorways are not unlike some of the jerseys of the 1970s and 1980s, but the darker hues set these apart.
The game itself was terrible last year, but at least the teams looked good while giving up a combined 397 points.
3. 1980
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The 1980 NBA All-Star Game was played in Landover, Maryland, which is why the jerseys look a lot like the classic Washington Bullets' uniforms.
The simple stripes across the chest are the most identifiable feature here, but the simple "East" and "West" above the numbers is nice. As are the stars surrounding that text.
This year being the first in which Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were All-Stars adds to the lore, too.
2. 1996
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There are several jerseys across NBA history that abandon the red, white and blue in favor for the host city's colors.
It first happened in 1967, when the game was near San Francisco. Other notable color switches happened in New York in 1968, Los Angeles in 1972, Phoenix in 1975 and 1995 and Milwaukee in 1977.
But no year had it better than San Antonio in 1996, when the league embraced the Spurs' fiesta look with the teal, white and orange (bordering on salmon).
1. 1991 Through 1994
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Of all the All-Star jersey designs across NBA history, these worn in the early '90s by Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and several other legends might be the busiest.
While all of that detail might be a turnoff for fans who are more into simplicity and clean lines, there's something undeniably fun about the retro feel here.
The metallic detail in "NBA" and the star behind each number pops. The cursive (or at least italic) writing for "All-Star" is a nice contrast. And the red, white and blue color scheme works perfectly with all of the above.
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