Images of new NBA All-Star uniforms leaked

What's the story?

It looks like the difference between this season's NBA All-Star uniforms and previous All-Star designs will be as stark as black and white.

In case you didn't know...

The league has discarded the East versus West format and have come with a draft-style system in which the East and West will have their respective captains who will be choosing the roster from a pool of players.

The heart of the matter

For the past 15 years, the league has stuck to its traditional format of Eastern Conference All-Stars wearing blue-trimmed uniforms, while their Western Conference counterparts wearing red uniforms. But for this year’s All-Star game, one team will feature in black and the other in white uniforms, with all players wearing black-and-white versions of their regular team logos on their jersey chests.

Although the league has not officially released the All-Star designs, Conrad Burry of Conrad Burry of Sportslogos.net, who has a strong track record of ferreting out NBA uniform information before it's officially announced, reported and confirmed on Monday that the photos that has been circulating around online are legitimate.

Guys, I have potentially terrible news. Let's hope to everything sacred that this ISN'T a first look at the NBA All-Star 2018 uniform template, but it appears to be at least a possibility 😟 (via hoopcity_dongdaemun on insta, h/t @Alphasialcool) https://t.co/lAvFvv89ZC pic.twitter.com/ibtbXVrC6T

— Conrad Burry 🔴🐐🎨 (@conradburry) January 10, 2018

Some new photos of the two 2018 NBA-All Star uniforms, courtesy of @Triple_Sport's FB and instagram posts. This certainly (and sadly) confirms them both as legit. (h/t @PatyRawlings) pic.twitter.com/WOMm6mSzId

— Conrad Burry 🔴🐐🎨 (@conradburry) January 17, 2018

The NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apart from 1997 through 2002, where players simply wore their regular team uniforms with no special All-Star design, previous All-Star uniforms have never featured the players' standard team logos on the chest.

In addition to this change, the leaked images indicate that the new designs will feature the Jordan brand logo. 29 of the 30 teams have been wearing Nike mark this season, the lone exception being the Charlotte Hornets. At present, it is unclear why the All-Star uniforms are carrying the Jordan logo, although that will presumably be explained when the designs are officially announced.

The jerseys will also be carrying a Kia advertising patch for the third consecutive year. At present, 19 of the 30 teams are wearing advertising patches.

What's next?

The All-Star game will be played on Feb 18 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Author's take

A change in the uniforms doesn’t seem like a bad idea to bring a little more excitement to the All-Star game, given that the league didn't have any special different outstanding jerseys for Christmas Day.