Ranking EVERY NBA 2022/2023 City Edition Jersey

Preamble

Alright, before we dive into the rankings, I want to get a couple of things out of the way. There are far more jerseys this year that I just simply do not like. I think this is a product of Nike forcing this program on the NBA teams and making them come up with new designs every year for six years now. There's only so much some teams can do, and in some cases, they did their best work already and are now being forced to turn in bad products.

Second, I think it is absolutely pathetic how many teams relied on a phrase located near the waist of the jersey in order to claim some sort of tie-in to their city. THAT PART IS TUCKED IN DURING GAMES! Nobody is going to see those phrases, so if that's your only thread of hope, it's probably not a good one.

These jerseys will be ranked based on two factors:

1. How nice does the jersey look?

2. How well did the jersey capture the city or something about the city?

Lastly, these are just my rankings. If you love a jersey I hated, then I'm glad you love it! We don't all need to like the same things. Hope you enjoy!

The Rankings

30. Utah Jazz This one is simple. The Jazz don’t have a City Edition jersey.

29. Los Angeles Lakers

I don’t really know what the plan is here. “The uniform is not the story; it is a vehicle to tell the stories” is the lamest excuse for “we ran out of ideas” I’ve ever heard.

28. Orlando Magic

This jersey is fine but not exceptional. It also doesn’t have any real meaning for the city of Orlando, so I can’t give them many points here.

27. Sacramento Kings

The Kings decided to use the fact that they stayed in Sacramento as the motivation for their jersey. I don’t know how you put that into a jersey, but I don’t think the Kings did except for some words on the side and above the little patch on the waistline.

26. Toronto Raptors

Another year, another black and gold jersey for the Raptors that doesn’t really have anything to do with the city of Toronto. There’s some cool details in the jersey, but you can’t really see them because of the black base.

25. New York Knicks

This is a great jersey - for a regular Knicks alternate jersey - as a City Edition jersey, this is so boring and uninspired.

24. Chicago Bulls

Again, this jersey could work as a primary for the Bulls. I really like the design. I’m just not sure it’s the right move for a City Edition uniform.

23. Dallas Mavericks

This is a super nice uniform, and a good throwback to previous Dallas teams, but the inspiration for the city theme is a bit of a stretch.

22. Denver Nuggets

This uniform looks beautiful. Again though, I’m not sure where the city inspiration comes from here. This looks like a test run for a new full set template, not a city-themed jersey.

21. Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers tried with this one. I just think they didn’t quite finish the design. It’s a clean jersey, but that’s because it pretty much doesn’t have any design on it.

20. Indiana Pacers

The Pacers put in a really good effort with a pretty rough idea. They tried to base this jersey off of their stadium. For what it is, they put together a solid jersey.

19. Cleveland Cavaliers

Alright, now we’re starting to get into the good stuff. There’s a good inspiration behind this jersey. I don’t know if they totally pulled it off, but they put in a valiant effort. I think this is the case of another team that had to stretch to figure out a concept because Nike is relentless with their new-jersey-every-year program.

18. Houston Rockets

If this was just about how the jersey looked, this would be probably in the top 5. Not a good City Edition uniform though, because it has no reference to the city. It is simply just a uniform inspired by past uniforms. It’s carried to number 18 because it looks good.

17. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder put together a solid jersey here. It looks decent, and they tried to find a way to connect it with the city, but again, it’s a stretch. They benefit from being able to use a color scheme similar to their regular palette, which makes this jersey fit right into their rotation. As a City Edition jersey though, it's okay.

16. Brooklyn Nets

Good jersey, good meaning, but it’s a rip off of a previous City Edition jersey. Be a little creative Brooklyn, especially if the jersey has an origin based in creativity. 15. Miami Heat

Cool idea, but again it’s a previous design just rebranded with a new base color. Another team that clearly is running out of ideas.

14. Minnesota Timberwolves

We’re into the section of the rankings where I really enjoy the jerseys and I think they have decent inspirations. The cool thing about these jerseys is that no two will be the same. The colorful pattern will be different on all of them. The motivations for them are relatively vague, but they’re inspired by the creative community, so if it means something to the people of Minnesota, that’s cool with me!

13. San Antonio Spurs

Again, the inspiration for these are a bit of a stretch, but they’re so beautiful that I’ll let it slide as passable. They’re based on the 1996 All-Star game, and they’re super fun.

12. Memphis Grizzlies

Another hip-hop themed jersey by the Grizzlies. While they've dipped into the hip-hop well a few times, I think they pulled it off very well because the jersey simply looks like an album cover. Ja Morant will look great flying around in these.

11. Phoenix Suns

I love the inspiration for these jerseys. They were inspired by the 22 indigenous tribes of Arizona. The colors hold meaning based on traditions of the tribes and the designs come from traditional art. There are also translations of the phrase “the sun” in various languages of the tribes. The actual jerseys look decent, but they’re not my favorite. I love the overall concept paired with the design though.

10. Washington Wizards

These jerseys just pop. They’re based on the cherry blossom festival that D.C. teams seem to be obsessed with. They’re fairly simple, but I think they look great and the colors really pair together nicely. I also think they nailed the wordmark on these jerseys.

9. Golden State Warriors

Woah. There is a lot going on with these jerseys, but they look really cool. I don’t know how well they represent the inspiration, which is to celebrate the women that helped the team get to where they are today. The Warriors have really pioneered this “logo-centric” design for jerseys, and they’ve introduced another really cool logo with this design. These are really good alternate jerseys and they’re really nice City Edition jerseys.

8. Portland Trailblazers

The Blazers did a great job here. The jerseys themselves are solid, and they have a cool meaning as well. The teal sash is based on the famous PDX airport carpet. I also really like the airport code being the wordmark as we’ll see later in the list.

7. Los Angeles Clippers

From a team that typically puts out terrible efforts when it comes to special edition jerseys, the Clippers did a great job here. The jersey looks nice, and the jersey is inspired by local art, which is always cool. I really love the wordmark on this jersey.

6. Boston Celtics

I tried really hard to get this as high on the list as possible. I think this is one of if not the BEST alternate jersey the Celtics have ever released. I would fully support the Celtics if they decided to make these full-time alternate jerseys. They’re also based on Celtics legend Bill Russell, who unfortunately passed away earlier this year. The only thing they’d have to change if this was a full-time jersey would be replacing the diamonds with clovers on the sides. Other than that, I’d like to see them use Boston as a wordmark because it’s the City Edition, but they’re still awesome.

5. Charlotte Hornets

The mint is back! The original mint jersey was great, and they’ve done a great job with this version as well. Again, I love the airport code, and the mint combines super nicely with the gold on these jerseys. I also like the dark background and how it lets the colors pop. The Hornets also use a very unique aspect of an otherwise not very well-known city as the motivation for the jerseys which is so much better than most other teams can come up with.

4. Detroit Pistons

Fantastic. These are based on a local gymnasium called Saint Cecelia’s. Not only is it a great inspiration for the jersey, but they pulled off a really cool retro-looking design. This is one I have a tougher time explaining, but I think these are just spectacular.

3. Atlanta Hawks

Peach! These are simple, to the point, and beautiful. They capture the vibe of the city, which is exactly what they were going for. As with other jerseys, the dark base allows the peach to really jump off the jersey and pop. This may have been low-hanging fruit for the Hawks, but they knocked it out of the park.

2. New Orleans Pelicans

Again, this was the easy route for the Pels, but they killed it. I’m always a sucker for the NOLA colors because purple, green, and yellow just look so good together. They also have the best acronym in the league, and they know it. I’m not sure exactly what the base color is, but it looks great, and the font on these jerseys is awesome. Last comment on these jerseys: I think the horizontal tri-stripes are an awesome design and make the most out of a basketball jersey which is a tough template in general.

1. Milwaukee Bucks

I love this blue! The cream city made sure to not forget their iconic nickname, but this time they were smart enough to not use that as the main wordmark. The beautiful deep royal blue pairs phenomenally with the cream striping and lettering. The pattern on the sides of the jerseys are inspired by a neighborhood that is known as the hub of Milwaukee’s African American community and a mural that can be found there. It’s also just a really cool pattern, and it fits really nicely with this jersey.