Last season’s new City jerseys for the Houston Rockets — the blue, pinstriped uniform with an old-school logo as a nod to the 1990s and early 2000s era — were clearly a hit among much of the team and fan base.
If desired, NBA teams can change up their City Edition uniforms each year, as part of the league’s current jersey deal with Nike. But as the Rockets see it, there’s no reason to rush into a change when the status quo is as popular as the blue pinstripes became during the 2021-22 campaign. When worn at Toyota Center, those uniforms were also accompanied by a custom blue court, for matching purposes.
Based on that popularity, the team is standing pat with those jerseys for at least one more year. Julian Duncan, chief marketing and strategy officer for the Rockets, confirmed the decision to our Ben DuBose in the latest episode of The Lager Line podcast.
“Let’s just break the news right here, on your podcast,” Duncan said. “We’re going to bring back the pinstripes from last year, because there was such great energy around that uniform. The fans really responded, and just as important, the team absolutely loves them.”
“Josh (Christopher) can’t stop talking about them,” Duncan added. “He came by the office a couple weeks ago, and we were just having a conversation. He was like, ‘Hey, are we bringing the pinstripes back next year?’ I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ So we’re going to be bringing that uniform back, and we’ll be making some noise around that, as we go into this season.”
As was the case last year, the blue City uniforms will be joined in Houston’s 2022-23 jersey rotation by Nike’s red Icon, white Association, and black Statement sets. The uniform schedule, in terms of which jerseys will be worn for which games, will be released closer to when the 2022-23 season actually begins in October.
In some years, NBA teams also have a fifth jersey in the rotation known as the Classic uniform, which directly replicates a past era. For example, in the 2019-20 season, the Rockets wore throwback jerseys to commemorate the look of their 1994-95 championship team, as part of a 25th anniversary celebration. They have not worn one since.
Earlier this month, however, Dave Hardisty of ClutchFans reported that the Rockets would release new Classic jerseys in August, giving them a fifth uniform for the 2022-23 season. While Duncan did not confirm that in his latest interview, he certainly didn’t deny it, either.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss anything beyond that [the blue pinstripes], but just know that we’re always looking to have fun with our uniforms, here at Toyota Center,” Duncan says on the podcast.
Stay tuned! The complete interview can be listened to below.
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