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The Wes Unseld era, spanning two cities, multiple decades and defined by a world championship in 1978. The fast-paced, high-scoring teams of the early 2000s that made playoff appearances in four consecutive seasons. The Stars & Stripes run of the late 2010s, highlighted by a 17-game home winning streak and a memorable playoff run in 2017. All of the greatest touchpoints on the timeline of Wizards’ history are now represented in one uniform.
On Monday, in conjunction with the NBA and Nike, the Wizards unveiled their 2021-22 City Edition uniform, a tribute to the most influential moments in the franchise’s history as part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary season. The Wizards, NBA and Nike collaborated to concoct this year’s alternate uniform, developing a final look that was the product of decades of inspiration and years of design work.
“The NBA jersey creative process is busy, but fun,” said Monumental Sports & Entertainment Chief Marketing Officer Hunter Lochmann. “We work closely with Nike and the NBA On-Court and Brand Partnership (OCB) group on every step. With the annual City Edition jersey, there is a year-round creative effort.”
“It starts with a creative brief that we share with Nike and OCB, defining what we’d like our jerseys to represent from a D.C. perspective,” Lochmann continued. “It eventually ends with a final jersey to debut two seasons later. It’s that long of a process. My favorite part is sharing the idea and seeing the creative and talented folks at Nike put it into a design format. Then, there is a back and forth on designs until we find the one that best represents us and what we are most excited about.”
At first glance, the uniform’s sense of history is apparent, most closely resembling the classic Bullets’ uniforms of the 60s and 70s – but a closer look uncovers even more detail that celebrates the other foundational moments of the franchise’s history.
The jersey features a number of tributes to the late, great Wes Unseld, who played his entire 13-year, Hall-of-Fame career with the organization, winning Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Finals MVP and leading the team to its only championship in 1978. Since his passing in 2020, the organization has taken steps to immortalize his profound legacy, including the unveiling of a commemorative bust on the concourse of Capital One Arena and now, a uniform deeply inspired by the era he defined.
The anthem of the jersey features a patch of Unseld’s iconic number 41 along with five stars representing each of his All-Star selections. “ROY” and “MVP” lettering dresses the vents on each side of the shorts, recognizing Unseld’s historic 1968-69 season, in which he became just the second player in league history to be named Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season. No player has accomplished the feat since.
“When we were given the assignment of bringing the history of our jerseys to life for this year’s City Edition uniform, Senior VP of Marketing Rebecca Winn had the idea of incorporating Unseld, the greatest player and leader of our franchise’s history, into the jersey in special ways. The NBA and Nike worked with us on the various areas of the uniforms to where we could pay homage to Wes. These decisions were made prior to his passing. We of course are saddened he won’t see them – but we also know his presence will be felt every time the team takes the court in these uniforms.”
Nods to more modern moments in the organization’s history include a prominent gold trim and royal blue base color that harkens back to the teams of the early 2000s. The blue-and-gold Wizards qualified for four consecutive postseasons, finished top-six in scoring three seasons in a row and were led by Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. The “Washington” wordmark across the chest pulls from the Stars & Stripes run of the late 2010s.
Seeing these historically defining moments represented in a new uniform will fuse nostalgic memories of seasons past with the modern milestones of this year’s team – and spark the curiosity of younger fans whose Wizards’ memories span no further than blue and gold.
But for those who lived the moments represented in the details of the uniform, their inclusion means even more.
Kevin Grevey, who played with the Bullets from 1975-1983 and averaged over 15 points per game during the team’s championship season, reminisced on what his red-white-and-blue Bullets uniform meant to him during his playing days.
“When you see that uniform – even if you weren’t an NBA fan – and you see the red, white and blue; the hands going up or the two Ls or the basketball, you’d say this must be in the Nation’s Capital. It was damn near the best uniform in the league. I put that thing on proudly, man.”
At that time, players were responsible for their own gear, handwashing it after games and packing it for road trips.
“We cherished those uniforms and they were very important to us,” Grevey said. “I loved them.”
“It means a lot,” Grevey said of the fact that his Bullets era would be represented in the new uniform. “I will always be a Wizards fan because of my associations with the Bullets. As the evolution of the team went, to see them come back to the red, white and blue – I think every team has gone through different colors and looks, but it’s kind of gone back to the classic look which is pretty cool.”
Jamison, who played his entire career Wizards career in blue and gold, has similarly poignant memories of what his uniform meant to those who loved the team.
“Every time I go back to a game, people always say, ‘When you guys played, I just remember how fun it was to come to games,’” Jamison said. “I think that jersey resonates with a lot of people and brings back those memories…It does feel special to be a part of a jersey that stands out with the organization…You knew what it was all about.”
“For me, it was something simple and sleek,” he continued. “To this day, I have my shorts. The jerseys are all framed. It was something I thought was cool.”
The organization also used the new uniform as an opportunity to look forward. A brand-new DMV logo in gold, white and blue sits on the side of the shorts, acknowledging the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area’s role in building the franchise’s history and setting the course for a future that includes the entire region.
“We pushed for and were happy to see the new DMV logo included,” Lochmann said. We think we are the first major league team locally to have DMV on a uniform and we are proud of that fact. We know our fanbase crosses through the District, Maryland and Virginia and we wanted to bring that to life.”
With the Wizards off to their best start to a season in 16 years, with optimism and energy running high and new moments being etched into the organization’s history each night, the arrival of the Nike 2021-22 NBA City Edition Uniform is perfectly timed and will go on to visually define a season’s worth of moments set to unfold over the coming months.
The Wizards Nike NBA City Edition uniform, which will debut on the court on November 3, will be on sale beginning on November 15 online and will be available at the Capital One Arena Team Store.