It has been tradition in the NBA since its inception that the home team wears white jerseys during games, or in the Los Angeles Lakers case gold jerseys, while the visiting teams wears darker colored jerseys.
The NBA has a new partnership with Nike though, who will make the jerseys for all 30 teams beginning in the 2017-18 season, and it appears that the two sides have agreed that home whites are no longer mandatory.
According to Nick DePaula of ESPN, the home team now has the ability to decide what color jersey they want to wear:
NBA & Nike are ditching traditional Home & Road jerseys. Teams will simply pick 1 of their 4 jersey options to be worn at all home games.
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) July 18, 2017
Teams will have four different options to choose from, the traditional white and colored jerseys and two newly inspired jersey options:
Each NBA team will have 4 jersey options
– Association (Classic white)
– Icon (Team color)
– Athlete Mindset
– Community (Locally inspired)— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) July 18, 2017
The NFL also recently switched to Nike jerseys, which led to a spike in jersey sales throughout the league, something the NBA hopes to replicate.
The Los Angeles Lakers jerseys for the 2017-18 season have not yet been revealed, but it should be interesting to see what Nike can come up with for the most historic franchise in the league.
Los Angeles Lakers(96) - Minnesota Timberwolves(103)