Are sleeved jerseys the future of the NBA?
We’re talking about just a few inches of fabric, but sleeves on NBA jerseys have garnered immense attention around the league and — where NBA supplier adidas and the league most want — in retail outlets. Sunday’s All-Star Game in New Orleans gives us another chance to gawk at those extra inches, this time in a fleur-de-lis motif.
While just 0.3 percent of NBA games have featured sleeved uniforms this season, the high-profile attention given to the new look on Christmas Day and the upcoming All-Star Game reminds us that the sleeves we see now could be a glimpse into the future.
“We’re still in the middle of rolling out what we think is a pretty big revolution in terms of short sleeves and a lot of people are reacting to it and getting used to it,” Chris Grancio, adidas’ head of global basketball, told SI.com. “It will take a couple of seasons to get where we want to be.”
And the NBA doesn’t plan to stand in the way of the sleeved revolution.
The idea originated with adidas three years ago. Players commonly wear short sleeves under their jerseys in high school, college and practices, so Grancio said putting sleeves on the NBA jersey was a “natural takeaway from how players choose to play today” and served as a “great opportunity for fans to embrace their favorite players or teams in a more authentic way.”
Read more: http://nba.si.com/2014/02/13/nba-sleeved-jerseys-future-adidas-photos/?eref=sihp
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