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The Minnesota Timberwolves officially dropped their City Edition Uniforms on Monday. Though many fans had found the leaked images weeks ago, it was cool to see the official release with all of the details.
THIS IS THE REMIX https://t.co/3YRUioohMw pic.twitter.com/egdfnZnUkH
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) November 1, 2021
The Wolves new uniforms incapsulate details from all eras of the franchise’s history. Let’s take a look at all of those details.
- The tree trim is a nod to the Kevin Garnett era of the Timberwolves.
- The “Wolves” across the chest also comes from the Kevin Garnett era, but knocks off the “Timber” portion.
- The gradient from front to back comes from their 2017-18 grey City Edition uniforms, which was the only season they made the playoffs since the 2003-04 season.
- The color scheme incorporates the colors of the inaugural team and the current dark blue that the Wolves use.
- The Wolves on the shorts represent the first era of the Timberwolves and the current era.
I love these jerseys for Minnesota. They've been consistently pretty solid when it comes to City Edition uniforms, but how good do these stack up to the rest of the league? Let’s take a look.
Ranking Every 2021-22 NBA City Edition Uniform
Before I dive into these rankings, I need to put out a clear and concise disclaimer: These rankings are based solely on MY preference. Things I AM taking into consideration when ranking:
- Looks
Things I AM NOT taking into consideration when ranking:
- History
- Meaning
- Opinions of others
- Literally anything that isn’t “looks”
Overall, I think these jerseys were pretty poorly executed. There aren’t many that I fell in love with at first glance, which is disappointing. There are some that blew me away, but others simply failed to even mess up my un-gelled hair.
(All photographs and jerseys are obtained from SportsLogos.net)
Alright, with that out of the way, let’s go ahead and rank the 2021-22 NBA City Edition Jerseys from worst to first!
30. Miami Heat
WHAT? Like... WHAT?
These are disgustingly bad. It looks like a ransom note made by a 2nd grader. Outside of the monstrosity of the wording, these jerseys are black with some yellow lines. The multicolored Heat logo was cool until I noticed the pink and blue sections. This is the second jersey in a row that Miami messed up after having some fantastic Vice editions. The fall from grace sure was quick in the jersey department.
29. San Antonio Spurs
These are something else, and not in a good way. They are simply trying to do too much here. Some of the color combinations work, but not all of them together. Give me this jersey minus the orange and put a black border around the teal numbers instead of the pink and I think they’d jump a number of spots on this list.
28. Orlando Magic
I see the vision with these. I really do. But that vision probably would’ve been better left of as just a vision. I really can’t pinpoint what I don’t like about this jersey. It just sticks out to me as bad. I was a bigger fan of their 2020-21 City Edition uniforms that used the orange as an accent to a white base. I’m all the way out on these.
27. Dallas Mavericks
These are almost an okay jersey. I’m simply not a big fan of the “Dallas” wordmark across the chest. The green sticks out also. Perhaps with an inverted green/blue, these would be better. Outside of the poorly executed color combination, the base of the jersey is boring. I get that has been Dallas’ thing throughout history, but this is based on looks and these look bad.
26. Golden State Warriors
I’m going to be honest here; the lightning bolt pattern is throwing me off. I’m digging the color scheme, but the lightning bolts could’ve been executed better. They should’ve went with a thicker design on the sides. The chest logo could also utilize some blue to make it fit with the rest of the jersey. We are finally getting to the not tragically awful section of this list.
25. Philadelphia 76ers
I’m not a big fan of the dark shade of blue used here, but these overall design is nice. the naked ‘76’ on the shorts is fantastic and I’m sorta digging the “Sixers” font across the chest. Still, I think these could’ve used a thick red waistline and a different color combination than the traditional red, white, and blue for the trim.
24. Oklahoma City Thunder
The design of these is magnificent. I love the vertical lines with the “OKC” text and the tribal pattern on the shorts is wonderful. But... whited-out? Really? These could be extraordinary if they used the right combination of blues and oranges. They really swung and missed here.
23. Cleveland Cavaliers
I’m going to be honest, I know the logo is a blast from the past and what-not, but it KILLS the rest of this jersey. There is so much potential that is being suffocated by it. The shorts are a bit weird, as I don’t like how the lines come so far over to the front, but the trim on the jersey is great. I also love the hoop logo on the shorts.
22. Indiana Pacers
The text across the chest is cool. The combined logo on the shorts is sick, but I’ve never been a fan of the huge stripes that Indiana has used over the years. This time is no different. Give me some pinstripes instead.
21. Milwaukee Bucks
The purple in these uniforms just doesn’t belong. At least not in that spot. The green stripes in the side are fantastic, but the jersey is so plain. Too many straight lines, not enough pizz-azz. Also, that style neckline is an automatic deduction in points for me. Every. Single. Time.
20. New Orleans Pelicans
Boy are these a step in the right directions after their last city edition uniforms. I love their color combination. Not a big fan of how the shorts stripes are positioned, but these are solid.
19. Boston Celtics
I LOVE the jersey. The simplicity is welcomed, especially when coupled with the drop shadow font. But, the shorts need some work. Not a fan of the grey on the sides. I’d have gone with full white instead of the grey and a bigger clover leaf. All in all, not terrible.
18. Washington Wizards
These are pretty good. I’ve never been huge on the stripes, but the colors of this uniform are great. The number font is very nice. The shorts are overall plain, but not entirely boring. The colors truly carry this one.
17. Denver Nuggets
These are different, in both good and bad ways. The rainbow stripes are cool and I’ll stand by that, even if it is an unpopular opinion. I don’t love the waistline or neck trim pattern, but it doesn’t stand out as awful. The fonts are great, also.
16. Memphis Grizzlies
I was going to have these a bit lower, but then I saw the teal and yellow grizzly logo on the shorts and was sold. The trim doesn’t pop quite as much with this color scheme, but the colors work solidly together and the font continues to be high-quality.
15. Detroit Pistons
These are (almost) great! I love the red for Detroit. It’s a strong color. The teal accents are good. Colors overall are fantastic, but the lightning bolts, man,.. why? That's my only gripe with these.
14. Los Angeles Lakers
These are good. Colors compliment each other well. Wish there was a bit more blue on the jersey to match the shorts, but I think they’ll look great on court. Also, the stars are a fantastic touch. I don’t mind the simplicity here.
13. Chicago Bulls
I love the use of the black with red pinstripes on the shorts. Script font is great. Waistline is fantastic. Jersey just seems a bit... empty?
12. New York Knicks
I love the color scheme, don't love the shorts stripes. Side panel pattern is good too. Overall, solid.
11. Utah Jazz
These are the same as last year, so they fall some spots for that, but these are still very good so I can’t drop them too far.
10. Phoenix Suns
Again, the same as last year, but why fix what isn’t broken? The gradient is done perfectly. That’s that.
9. Los Angeles Clippers
This color scheme is ridiculous. I love it. The design on the one short leg is great, too. I like the font for the “Clippers” but not in love with the number font. These are probably one cool feature away from being top 5. I’m not sure what that feature is, but it’s something.
8. Portland Trail Blazers
Black and red continues to be one of the best color schemes, especially when very little white is used. Portland executed that perfectly with these. The use of stripes on just one side is awesome and the fonts chosen are great.
7. Toronto Raptors
I love gold accents on black, so that is weighing a lot on my placement of these. The gold Raptor looks great and I like the pinstripes. Cannot get enough of these.
6. Brooklyn Nets
I’m a big fan of these Nets uniforms. The colors are great and I love the simplicity combined with the placement of stripes. The “Nets” font is cool, too, which helps.
5. Sacramento Kings
The “Sactown” font sold me on these. I also and a fan of the purple accents on a black base. Not much else to add.
4. Houston Rockets
Houston knocked it out of the park with these. The pinstripes turning into a blue flame is outstanding. The sides of the shorts couldn't be better, and the overall color scheme and ratio of red to navy is undeniably awesome. Plus, I’m all in on the white waistline.
3. Atlanta Hawks
Yellow jerseys are always hard to execute, but Atlanta did it wonderfully here. The Hawk spanning its wings across the chest is dope without a doubt. Read and black accent the rest of the jersey, creating a Cobra Kai vibe that I love. They killed this one.
2. Minnesota Timberwolves
You thought I was going to puttee Wolves first, didn’t you? You've been waiting for this one. Unfortunately, they are coming in second here. These are sick. Color scheme rocks. Trees are one of the best looks all-time. I remain a big fan of the 2017-18 grey city editions, so I like the use of the gradient from the front to the back. Not to mention the old and new logos on opposite legs of the shorts. Just remarkable.
1. Charlotte Hornets
I know a lot of Wolves fans won't want to admit that LaMelo will be wearing the coolest jersey in the league this year, but they’ll just have to deal with it. These are great. I love a well executed gradient. Charlotte did that with these and then added the honeycomb on top of it. I love the color scheme, always have. You would think pinstripes and honeycomb patterns on the same jersey might be too much, but it’s not. The script font rocks too. Only thing I’m not a fan of is the green pinstripe, but I’ll let it slide.
So, there it is, the 100% correct, inarguable, perfect ranking of the 30 NBA City Edition Uniforms for the 2021-22 season. Let me hear your thoughts in the comment section.
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