These days, alternate jerseys have become extremely popular throughout the NBA and sports in general. Each year every NBA team sports a different alternate uniform, known as the “City Edition” that takes inspiration from different eras of the city and franchise.
The Los Angeles Lakers have had some truly iconic ones with such as the L.A Nights edition as well as the Black Mamba edition that were designed by Kobe Bryant which the team wore to great success all the way to the 2020 NBA Championship.
Now the Lakers have officially unveiled their 2023-24 City Edition uniforms known as the California Dream. And all of the Lakers players, including LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves seem to be in favor of the new look:
“Yeah, these are fire.”
Revealing the new City Edition jerseys to the squad ?️@bibigoUSA | #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/zifCVPet3e
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 2, 2023
Black & Purple for the new threads ?@bibigoUSA | #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/1lUs9Yic8V
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 2, 2023
The Lakers revealed that these uniforms take inspiration from historic Lakers artwork and represents the Los Angeles dream and journey. The main triangle design on the jersey is a callback to the 1960s when the Lakers first moved to Los Angeles from Minneapolis.
The jersey trim transitioning from purple to black is meant to represent the famous California sunset while the jersey numbers are the same style that the franchise wore from 1999 until 2017, a period in which the Lakers won five NBA Championships.
The shorts also have some meaning, including the center of the belt line which features an ‘LAL’ logo that not only means Los Angeles Lakers, but also stands for Leave a Legacy. The partial LA logo featured elsewhere on the shorts also has speed marks meant to signify the path of chasing a dream.
These uniforms are set to debut on Nov. 14 when the Lakers host the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the inaugural In-Season Tournament.
Lakers D’Angelo Russell in awe of Anthony Davis’ dominance
Davis has continued to be absolutely excellent for the Lakers so far this season and while point guard D’Angelo Russell isn’t surprised, he admits he can be in awe sometimes at what his teammate does.
“If it’s not on the stat sheet … teams fear him, and for our group, knowing what he’s capable of on the offensive end and the defensive end. I mean, we never lose any love or trust in what he’s capable of. And being a part of what we did last year and seeing his level of play kind of … I mean, I wasn’t surprised or shocked, but I was kind of in awe because I see how it kind of progressed over the time we were together so I know what he’s capable of, and there’s no surprise for that guy.”
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