Bleacher Report, in collaboration with Mitchell & Ness, announced today that it has "remixed" five classic NBA team jerseys, with input from five hip-hop artists who claim the various clubs for their hometowns.
Los Angeles-based record label Top Dawg Entertainment, home to Schoolboy Q, SZA, Isaiah Rashad, and more, is behind a jersey re-design for your Los Angeles Lakers. Label staple Jay Rock, a Watts native who won a Grammy in 2019 for his triple-platinum hit single "King's Dead," featuring Kendrick Lamar, Future and James Blake, showed off the black-and-gold poly-mesh Lakers jersey, which sports "Watts Lakers" in the team's signature lettering.
Top Dawg's TDE branding adorns the jersey on the top left and bottom right corners of the jersey, as well as over the back where the player name would normally be listed. The jersey number is "04," listed vertically, representing the year of Top Dawg Entertainment's foundation.
The new alternate "TDE x Lakers" jersey is available for purchase at Bleacher Report's shop, where it retails for $175. "What's it like being a Lakers fan?" Jay Rock asks rhetorically over on the site. "It's everything. It's LA. You feel me? There is nothing like it." Jay Rock was born in March 1985, meaning he's been alive for a whopping nine Lakers championship seasons, featuring all-time Lakers greats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis.
In terms of the four non-Lakers fits that have been produced for this special collaboration, the Wu-Tang Clan got to rework the jerseys of their beloved hometown New York Knicks, Lil Baby created a spiffy new Atlanta Hawks jersey, Polo G rocked a fresh Chicago Bulls look, and Three 6 Mafia offered input on a custom Memphis Grizzlies jersey.
Click through here to see all of the jerseys in the collaboration, adorning the aforementioned artists:
Will your Los Angeles Lakers ever actually wear their cool new duds? Bleacher Report has not indicated as much, but it should would be fun. It has, however, been previously announced that L.A. will have at least two new(ish) jerseys in their rotation this year: one, a Statement Edition jersey featuring a purple base and a black-and-gold finish, the other, a retro Minneapolis Lakers home jersey, with a white base and a blue-and-gold finish.
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