The switch from adidas to Nike has been rolling out slowly for the NBA, with most fanbases stuck waiting for leaks, official pictures, or reveals with a little more spectacle. Nike and the NBA put some of the waiting aside here 10 days from training camps, rolling out the “statement” jerseys for the new season in an NBA TV special on Friday night.
With the roll out came a look at the Toronto Raptors’ statement jersey, courtesy of model DeMar DeRozan:
Statement.#WeTheNorth | #NIKExNBA pic.twitter.com/Yamw8iCVpG
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) September 16, 2017
DeMar DeRozan modelling the Raptors new uniform pic.twitter.com/wWN3I8GJ5g
— Kayla Grey (@Kayla_Grey) September 16, 2017
A new STATEMENT! #NIKExNBA pic.twitter.com/C2Rcptf0NA
— NBA (@NBA) September 16, 2017
The “statement” jersey Nike revealed for each team came along with the announcement that the new wave of jerseys will contain some pretty cool technologcy. According to a report from ESPN, the new jerseys are also “smart” jerseys, which means that scanning the jersey’s tag with a phone will bring up highlights for the player and team on the jersey. Teams can also activate the smart jerseys to offer specific game-day deals or limited-time offerings, and you can even get NBA 2K bonuses by scanning. (You’ll need an app on your phone for these benefits.)
These tags will be present on the cheaper replica and the authentic jerseys, both of which go on sale league-wide on Sept. 29.
The statement jersey is just the first part of the Nike roll-out, though. Each team will also have an “icon” and an “association” jersey, and you can expect those to be rolled out sometime between now and the on-sale date, possibly even as soon as media day on Sept. 25.
Of course, if you have NBA 2K already, then you’ve seen the Raptors’ new jerseys:
Fired up 2K. Here’s a look at three of the Raptors new Nike jerseys for this season: pic.twitter.com/iZkjUpLDba
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) September 16, 2017
We already new the Raptors would have a mostly uninvasive but still noticeable Sun Life Financial patch as part of a new sponsorship agreement (fans will reportedly be able to get jerseys with or without the patch), and there had been leaks of the potential NORTH fourth jersey (the “community” jersey), which I’ve heard conflicting things on the legitimacy of. Whatever the case, we’ll see them all soon enough.
Also, fresh socks!
The new official on-court NBA socks. pic.twitter.com/ZFfYI67km4
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) September 16, 2017