Making Sense of the Wolves’ City Edition Jersey Leaks

For a few days at the end of July and into early August, I couldn’t sleep at all. More on that later.

The 2022-23 Minnesota Timberwolves season is right around the corner, which means the city edition uniforms will be revealed to us soon. Last year, the team absolutely knocked it out of the park with the design they put out, and you could tell they heard fan feedback as well. I personally felt like they wore the city edition more last year than any previous year. It even culminated in a kick-ass mural in the North Loop area.

But this year, the Wolves look to potentially be doing things in reverse order, basing the city uniforms off of the Bob Dylan mural near downtown, to showcase/bring awareness to the city’s art scene.

Image courtesy of Minnesota Public Radio

So far, there have been a couple unconfirmed leaks that could potentially tie back to the theme of the mural, and I wanted to quick touch on them before we get the official reveal.

Leak #1

Even if it’s a little pixelated, a clearer image would not make it much better. Remember above how I said I wasn’t able to sleep very well a little earlier this summer?

Well, to be exact, it was around the end of July when this image circulated as the potential design for the upcoming alternate. Whoever designed it, I’m sure is a very nice person. I mean no ill will. But man, this would be absolutely painful. Not a lot reminds me more of using the computer in the early-to-mid 2000s than this. Whether it was changing your computer colors from 32-bit to 16-bit, or using Word Art in Microsoft Word 2003, this pretty much runs the gamut of nostalgia you don’t really need.

Plus, it just feels a little clunky. But uh, this statement jersey...

Leak #2

There was much more of a redemption arc when this version made its way around, and was talked furthermore about as being “close” to what is currently being considered. Also, while we’re here, shoutout to @JVSwaps on Twitter. Does an awesome job with concept art and hit this one pretty close (if this ends up being the one).

To be clear, this goes a bit further than just concept art. There have been a few different versions of this out and about.

What I love about the above? It bodes well for the “earned edition” playoff colorway that normally ends up being the inverse (which would more likely than not be the black one listed). Plus, it’s actually close to looking the like the mural it’s supposed to be modeled after. Does it look a little Brooklyn Nets-ish? Sure. But I think we can get over that with how different it is from the Wolves primary home and away jerseys.

Another question that begs to be asked - is this finally the year the Wolves go for an alternate floor to match the nights they wear the alternate jerseys? These are the pressing, OCD questions for A-Rod and Marc Lore we need answers to.

Overall, if this is the one, I can get on board with that. For the road, I’ll give a quick rank for previous city editions:

1. 2021-22 — Remix the Game*
2. 2018-19 — Prince Alternates*
3. 2019-20 — MSP River Theme*
4. 2020-21 — North Star*
5. 2017-18 — Weird Gray Ones (fittingly, during a weird year)*

Getty Images

*Subject to change based on what the next couple weeks bring...