“Nike needs to be sued”: NBA fans leave no stone unturned in disapproving Mavericks’ reported jersey leak 

The 2023-24 NBA season is rapidly approaching. With that in mind, the anticipation among fans has continued to build. As part of the lead-up to the NBA season, images of different iterations of the league's 'City Edition' jerseys have begun to surface. While traditionally this is a time where fans come together and share excitement about the new jerseys their favorite players will wear, that wasn't the case recently.

After leaked images surfaced of the alleged Dallas Mavericks city edition jerseys, fans were quick to call out Nike for the uninspired design. Of course, Mavericks fans weren't the only ones to call out Nike regarding the underwhelming designs. Around the league, images of city edition jerseys continued to surface, with mixed reactions.

In the case of the Mavericks, the black color scheme combined with the traditional white lettering wasn't enough to win over fans. While some criticized the Mavericks for seemingly allowing Nike to create such a lackluster design, others took aim at the brand itself.

Other reactions around the league as NBA city edition jerseys get leaked for teams besides Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks fans weren't the only fanbase to be up in arms over the latest jersey designs. Around the league, alleged images began to surface of other team's new city edition jerseys, with fans of the mindset that they don't stack up to last year's.

Of course, at this time, none of the city edition jersey leaks have been confirmed by the NBA, and no players have been photographed wearing the jerseys in training. Despite that, both Chicago Bulls fans and Golden State Warriors fans have been up in arms over the past week as photos have surfaced of alleged leaks.

In the case of the Golden State Warriors, photos have surfaced of their alleged jerseys, showing 'San Francisco' across the front in a font many fans don't approve of.

In the case of the Chicago Bulls, the leaked jerseys showcase a very minimal design with Chicago written vertically down the chest. On the opposite side, player numbers are shown, with 'Madhouse on Madison,' the nickname for the United Center where the Bulls play, sits above the jersey tag.

In both cases, fans seem to feel as though the designers could have come up with better designs.

Of course, the Nike deal with the NBA, which was signed in June 2023 after a previous deal from 2015 expired, is worth $1 billion. At the time of the deal being signed, Adam Silver released a statement, relayed through FDRA.org, which read:

“This partnership with Nike represents a new paradigm in the structure of our global merchandising business. As our exclusive oncourt apparel provider, Nike will be instrumental in our collective efforts to grow the game globally while applying the latest in technology to the design of our uniforms and oncourt products.”

Whether or not Nike is able to win fans over with more inspired jersey designs in the future, only time will tell.

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