“What gets lost is brand identity”: Puma athlete Kyle Kuzma sounds off on Nike for ‘ruining nostalgia’ with new city-edition jerseys

Kyle Kuzma isn't a fan of how Nike is doing business. The sporting giant continually changes the design of NBA team city-edition jerseys as it looks to cash in on the fanbase's interest and desire to be "up-to-date" with the latest releases. However, according to Kuzma, Nike's consistent updates ruin the "nostalgia of jerseys."

Kuzma's comments are fair. Yet, the Washington Wizards star is a Puma athlete, which could cause some fans to view his comments as nothing more than a business move. NBA jerseys are expensive and have multiple iterations each season. It's hard to keep track of how many styles of the new city edition jersey have been released by each team in recent seasons.

"Nike is ruining the nostalgia of jerseys, every year it’s a new jersey and what gets lost is brand identity," Kuzma wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Still, in the rapidly changing world of sports and fashion, Nike does an incredible job of keeping pace and adjusting to the times. Both throwback jerseys and "city editions" provide an exclusive style of jersey which isn't as widely circulated as the replica home and road styles that we see teams wear throughout the year.

Kuzma's point still stands, though. During the 90s and early 2000s, teams wore similar jerseys year after year, a move which made those jerseys become iconic and part of NBA legend. With the rapidly changing styles we see now, those iconic jerseys could be a thing of the past.

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Kyle Kuzma could have a big year with the Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards have had an active offseason. The Eastern Conference franchise finally hit the reset button and began a full-scale rebuild of their roster. As such, Kristaps Porzingis and Bradley Beal were traded to new teams, and the Wizards have acquired former NBA champion Jordan Poole.

Poole, 24, will likely be expected to form a fearsome partnership with Kyle Kuzma, 28, or incoming rookie Bilal Coulibaly. Kuzma could become the Wizards' leader as he utilizes his experience in the league and his developmental jumps in recent years to help provide words of wisdom for his younger teammates.

Nevertheless, Kyle Kuzma and Poole could become a genuine weapon for the Wizards in the coming years. Kuzma is a versatile forward who can offer upside on both ends of the floor. Poole has the potential to be one of the best scoring guards in the NBA and should get every opportunity to hone his skills in Washington.

If Washington can quickly bounce back from its rebuild, Kyle Kuzma will be unlikely to care how often Nike changes the style of his jersey.