When the Los Angeles Lakers sent shockwaves throughout the NBA by signing LeBron James, their 2018 free agency coup was accompanied by a refresher to their uniforms as well.
The combination of James’ arrival and the new jerseys led to the Lakers Store website experiencing record sales.
However, not all has gone well in that area. When Nike took over the NBA apparel deal, it eliminated the need to stick with traditional home and road uniforms. Instead, Nike has created four editions.
While it’s provided teams — and consumers — with more options, there’s been some push back with respect to the Lakers. Their Nike designs are: Icon (gold), Association (white), Statement (purple) and City editions. An oft-heard complaint is the hue of the team’s Icon jerseys. They historically have been gold but in recent seasons appeared to border on highlighter yellow.
Despite assurances from Nike that isn’t the case, Lakers COO Tim Harris said the team will examine the coloring of their Icon jersey after the 2019-20 season, according to Arash Markazi of Los Angeles Times:
“The most often complained-about thing is that the gold is wrong,” Lakers chief operating officer Tim Harris said. “The first year we had the Nike uniform the gold did look like a highlighter but Nike tells us the gold that we wear now matches the gold back in the early days of Kobe [Bryant]. What fans are upset about is the evolution of the color but we were told they have the gold back to what it used to be but a lot of people think it’s still too yellow so we’re going to look at that after the season.”
As for the black stripe that goes down the side panel of the team’s statement jersey, Harris appreciated the passion from fans but generally is pleased with that design:
“That’s just a nod to putting black in the uniform,” Harris said. “I love when our fans notice things like the black stripe or the neckline. When they’re getting into that level of detail that shows how much they care. They’re invested and we love that and we hear them.”
Although the Lakers have primarily worn their gold uniforms on the road — Harris previously explained it’s due to circumstance — they are expected to don those more frequently at Staples Center for potential playoff games.
As for the shade of yellow, it does appear improved from last season and the Lakers giving it another look during the offseason could bring about more progress toward the coveted gold.