Ranking the NBA Nike Statement Uniforms

The Clippers did a good job of updating their Association and Icon uniforms thanks to the Nike takeover, but their Statement uniform was a huge swing-and-a-miss. It's very similar to their older black uniforms, which is not a compliment at all.

While the "Fear The Deer" idea is a fun concept and a cool idea to get the fans hyped up for certain nights, that doesn't mean that Milwaukee's Statement uniform is a shining beacon of basketball uniform design. It's reminiscent of the old 1990s NBA uniforms, but in a bad way. 

The Cavaliers won an NBA title wearing black uniforms and they recently officially added black to their color scheme. So naturally, they made sure that black stayed in their uniform rotation by making their Statement uniform black. Unfortunately, this is a rare occasion where a team would've been better off keeping a sleeved uniform, because this is not a good look at all. 

It's hard to mess up Portland's look. Give them a white, black, or red uniform with diagonal alternating color stripes on the jersey, and you've got yourself a Blazers uniform. It's simple, but Nike decided to complicate things by taking out the white and silver and just going with two-colors. The result is a uniform that's a bit too bland and out of the loop for the Blazers. 

Dallas' skyline alternate uniform made the transition from Adidas to Nike with relatively little changes. That's actually a bad thing, as the Mavericks could've used some sort of rejuvenation to their look, which is starting to get a bit old with each passing year. 

The Pacers suffered a bit of a downgrade going from Adidas to Nike and their blindingly-yellow Statement uniforms won't help matters for them in that regard. 

The Jazz have done a good job of embracing the classic musical note logo as their primary look. Unfortunately for them, the mustard-yellow jersey isn't the most appealing look in the world, so this uniform falls a bit flat. 

Like most of these uniforms, there are some good ideas here. This is probably one of the better ideas, but again, like most of the uniforms, the execution falls short. Golden State's Statement uniforms are the prime example of this particular phenomenon. 

The Kings were another team who simply ported over their old alternate to the new template, which makes sense because they only just recently unveiled these uniforms. As such, they didn't make too many changes to what was a bit of an underwhelming uniform. 

Once again, this isn't a huge departure from what they wore as an alternate uniform during the Adidas days. Still, this uniform was never among the top alternate looks in the NBA and it also took a bit of a hit due to the fact that the name on the back of the jersey is now below the numbers. That's just weird.

If any team should have ported over their previous alternate look, it's the Nuggets. Instead, this uniform looks like a bit of a knockoff of their previous yellow alternate jersey, which means that this is a bit of a disappointment.

While their previous gray alternate uniform was never popular, at least the Pistons made the choice to add their normal colors to the uniform instead of the bland navy blue that they went with before. It's still not the best alternate uniform, but it's at least passable. 

Houston's Statement jersey is a slightly tweaked version of what they wore as a black alternate in the Adidas days. While it may have resulted in a slight downgrade, this is still not a bad uniform at all and it doesn't undermine the rest of Houston's visual identity. 

Personally, it would have been preferable to see the Spurs go with the black version of this jersey that they wore from time-to-time in recent years. With that being said, the silver version isn't bad at all and is unique without being gaudy. 

This uniform is far-and-away Oklahoma City's best uniform. That isn't saying too much since the regular uniforms are pretty weak. Still, this is a decent uniform and it would be a lot better if the back of the uniform wasn't as wacky as it is. The front of the uniform deserves all of the attention that it will get, though.

The Suns have unusually found success with black alternate uniforms in the past. While this isn't on the level of their black alternates from the 1990s, this is perfectly fine as an alternate for the team in the desert. 

The Hawks kept the same alternate look from their Adidas days, which is good because this was easily the best jersey of their relatively new set. Now, as long as they don't mix-and-match the jersey and shorts with the granite uniform, then things will be just fine. 

The Wizards are another team who mostly just moved their old alternate over to the new Nike template. While most teams could have benefited from a change, the Wizards benefited from keeping things the same and showing a bit of restraint. 

The Magic added a bit of a wrinkle to their black pinstriped alternates by changing the pinstripes from white to blue. You could argue that they should have stuck with tradition and kept the white pinstripes, but the blue pinstripes actually do a decent job of popping off of the jersey, which makes this a good look for Orlando. 

The Hornets only made a slight tweak when they moved over their purple alternates from Adidas to Nike. That's a positive because the Hornets didn't need much of a fix. You shouldn't try to fix what isn't broke, and it's good to see that the Hornets subscribe to that theory for the most part. 

Boston simply reversed their previous green-and-black alternates. They turned what was green on the old uniform black and everything that was black on that uniform is now green. While it's weird seeing the Celtics in black, it's still a solid look and better than what most of the league has to offer in this department. 

While this alternate uniform is the weakest in Philadelphia's set, it really goes to show just how good the Sixers' uniform set is. Even a uniform that's considered to be the worst of Philly's uniforms is still a high-quality uniform when compared to the rest of the league. 

The Nets have always had interesting alternate uniforms and while they've missed on a couple of their alternate looks, they've always at least tried to stand out from the crowd when they deviate from their normal set. This uniform fits seamlessly into their identity and is a very good-looking uniform for Brooklyn. 

The Raptors already had a solid black alternate uniform. They decided that they didn't need to re-invent the wheel here, so they just went with what they had before. Good job, Toronto. 

This may be the most polarizing opinion on this entire list, as  Minnesota's new shade of green has proven to be beautiful in some people's eyes and garish in others. The former is the case here, as the excellent shade of green receives its time to shine on what was already a very nice new uniform for the Wolves. 

The Bulls are no strangers to black alternate uniforms. You could argue that they were the pioneers of this particular trail back in the 1990s, and things aren't too different today. It's a nice change of pace for the Bulls and it fits perfectly with the rest of their uniform set. 

Miami's red alternates have returned with relatively no changes, and that's a very good things. This alternate uniform has always been one of the best in the league, and it's very good that they decided to keep it as the league moves to Nike. 

Yeah, it's basically just their away jerseys but let's face it: Unless the Lakers just decide to go completely out of their comfort zone and go with a huge uniform overhaul, they will always have one of the best uniform sets in the league and their purple jerseys are modern classics. 

The Knicks reached back into their past to come up with a uniform that immediately became one of the best in the league. It's always nice to see teams use their uniform catalog to come up with something new instead of simply wearing a throwback, and the Knicks flawlessly executed this idea. 

The Pelicans have quietly come up with one of the best uniform sets in the NBA, and their statement uniform is a prime example of just how strong their uniform set is. If there are any complaints about this uniform, it would be the very definition of nitpicking. This is an excellent uniform and it's the best Statement uniform in the NBA.