A look at USA Basketball's Olympic uniform history

This is the Universal Pictures team that earned the right to represent the United States at the Olympics in Berlin. However, this isn't what the team wore on the muddy outdoor courts in Germany — those were similar to the track and field uniforms, except with numbers on them. What you're looking at here is what that team wore when it clinched its berth in the Olympics. The uniforms themselves are emblematic of the basketball fashion at the time: extremely tight jerseys and satin shorts with belt loops on them. You're going to see a lot of this as we go forward.

The first Olympic basketball tournament following World War II saw the USA Basketball team bring a relatively simple look to the court. USA badge logos were on the chest and shorts, while numbers were front and center on the jersey, in lieu of a script logo. The shorts had a simple striping pattern, and that's probably the perfect word to describe these uniforms: Simple.

The '52 team was the first squad to wear "USA" across the chest as a script logo. Also, this photo is an example of how mixing and matching jersey and shorts colors were a typical basketball design feature back in the '50s. 

The "USA" script logo went by the wayside by the time the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne rolled around, and the familiar look of numbers on the front of the jersey instead of a script logo came back. As such, this made for another simple, bare-bones look for the Olympic squad.

Although you can't see it under those warm-up jackets, the "USA" script logo returned to the chest, though this time the script logo put periods between the letters. The striping was very simple, and the numbering and lettering had a shiny white tint to it. Additionally, the USA badge logo was on the shorts, and a USA went down the sides of the shorts. This was easily the most detailed look yet for USA Basketball's Olympic teams.

The changes from 1960 to 1964 were minimal, with the major changes coming in the form of the subtraction of periods from the "USA" script logo and the removal of the badge logo from the shorts. Other than those two changes, this is a very similar look to what the team wore in 1960.

The 1968 squad took to the court in Mexico City wearing uniforms that received a few updates. The script logo and numbers were then red with blue outlines, and the striping pattern on the shorts got a new look as well. Additionally, the traditional badge logo made its return to the shorts.

1972's uniforms brought about minimal changes. The USA script logo went to a sans-serif look, and the badge logo that adorned the shorts disappeared. Also, note that the belt loops finally went by the wayside, in favor of a now-commonplace waistband. Interestingly enough, the striping pattern on the jerseys and shorts remained unchanged from 1968.

USA Basketball went with a bit of a streamlined look for the 1976 games. The home white uniforms returned to blue lettering and numbers with red striping, while the road uniforms went to red lettering and numbers with white striping. Additionally, the team returned to the script logo on the chest. As usual, there was nothing crazy about these uniforms — even during a decade that included crazy uniforms in both the NBA and ABA.

After USA sat out the 1980 Games in Moscow, the basketball team returned to the Olympic court in Los Angeles with uniforms that were definitely in line with what was popular with basketball uniforms during the '80s. The periods in "USA" were gone (for good, this time), and the striping down the side of the jerseys and shorts were thickened, with "USA" running vertically down the stripe on the shorts. Also, the men's team actually wore red during this tournament, which was an interesting wrinkle since red was normally reserved for the women's team.

The uniforms for the '88 Games in Seoul remained relatively unchanged from what they wore in 1984. The only major change was that this was only the second team in USA Basketball history to fail to win the gold medal at the Olympics. 

The 1992 Games in Barcelona brought about major changes. First off, this was the debut of the official USA Basketball logo, which was placed front and center on the jerseys and also within the side stripes on the shorts. This made for a uniform that could really be considered as a modern classic when it comes to basketball uniforms. Oh, and there was that other major change of letting professional players from the NBA represent their country at the Olympics, which led to the Dream Team stylishly imposing its will on the rest of the competition.

By the time Dream Team II took to the home court for the 1996 Games in Atlanta, big and garish logos on basketball uniforms were all the rage in the NBA. As such, this led to the Olympic team wearing what was by far its most unique uniforms to date. The "USA" script was extremely stylized, the number font was extremely modern, the striping on the sleeves and collar were somewhat unorthodox, and there were stars going down the sides of the jerseys and shorts. These uniforms looked totally in place for the '90s, but they'd stick out like a sore thumb if you stuck them next to today's basketball uniforms.

While the '90s saw USA Basketball experiment with placing logos front and center on its uniforms, the team went right back to keeping things simple as soon as the calendar turned to the year 2000. The striping went back to what you'd normally see on a basketball uniform outside of the 1990s, and the stars were toned down on this uniform as well. It was a very understated look when you compare it to what the Americans wore just four years earlier.

Despite the fact that USA Basketball switched from Champion to Reebok as far as manufacturers were concerned, the design of the 2004 uniform itself seemed like a direct evolution from the 2000 uniforms. The stars on the 2004 uniform were placed in nearly the exact same place that they were on the 2000 uniform, and the striping was similar as well. One of the big changes was that the team added a red jersey to its uniform rotation. However, this ended up being an unlucky look for Team USA, as the 2004 squad became only the third one in USA's Olympic history to miss out on winning the gold medal. 

By the time 2008 rolled around, Nike was making uniforms for USA Basketball, and as expected, the uniforms for the 2008 Games in Beijing were modern and in line for what you'd see pro teams wearing during this particular time. In addition to the stylized "USA" script logo, there was a sublimated design on the back of the jerseys, and the names on the back were the same color as the jersey. That meant blue names on blue jerseys and white names on white jerseys. This also marked the first time in which the team wore the flag on the players' chests, which is a trend that continues to this day.

If the 2008 uniforms weren't modern-looking enough for you, then the 2012 uniforms had to have satisfied you. The "USA" script on the chest had a modern look to it, the number font looked evolved, the striping pattern was progressive and there was even a sublimated American flag on the back of the jerseys. Twenty years from now, we'll probably look back on these uniforms like we look at the uniforms that the 1996 team wore. 

The uniforms that the 2016 Olympic squad will wear in Rio de Janeiro are easily the most simplistic that the team's worn in decades. It seems like Nike's focus was more on making sure that the "uniform technology" was up to snuff, rather than focusing on what it could do with the striping and/or sublimation patterns. Instead, we will watch USA Basketball play in some very, very understated uniforms. There's nothing wrong with that, and it's actually a callback to some of the uniforms that we saw in the past.