As Nike introduced a bold and new line of thinking with their taking over the NBA apparel contract beginning with the 2017-18 season, the Los Angeles Lakers took matters a step further by using their City Edition Jersey as a means to honor franchise legends through a Lore Series.
It calls for each Laker great to design the special jersey that will be worn during that specific season. It began with Kobe Bryant outfitting the Lakers with black jerseys which featured a snakeskin print as an ode to his “Black Mamba” persona.
For this season, the Lakers handed over the design canvas to Magic Johnson, who of course helped lead the team to five championships and now heads the front office as president of basketball operations.
Johnson’s design for the Nike City Edition jerseys is purple based with the full team name across the front of the chest to go with black trim, and black font and jersey numbers that both have a yellow border.
The jersey and shorts incorporate pinstripes that read, “3x5xSHOWTIME” to represent the five titles Johnson won with the Lakers, his three MVP Awards and the uptempo offense he orchestrated. Johnson’s No. 32 and an ‘M’ are on the center of the waistband of the shorts.
The Lakers will wear this season’s Lore Series jerseys for 12 games, beginning Wednesday night when they host the Portland Trail Blazers. They will don the City Edition threads three times in November, four times in December, twice in January and for three games in March.
Aside from their on-court debut, perhaps the most notable game the Lakers will wear them is for a matchup against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day.
