Orlando Magic: New ‘City Edition’ jersey a home run

The Orlando Magic have a new ‘City Edition’ jersey, with the organization finally marrying their classic past and exciting future on their threads.

Did you know the Orlando Magic are slept on? Not necessarily for any particular reason, but in general. They’ve made the playoffs in their last two seasons, have an All-Star in Nikola Vucevic who is among the most underrated in the league, and depending on health, a future Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Jonathan Isaac.

If you knew all of that already, then congratulations, you are a Magic fan. For everybody else though, it seems that no smaller market franchise in the entire league is overlooked as much as these guys. Whenever there isn’t a superstar in town, although to be fair there has been for much of their time as an organization, it is like they don’t exist.

Except for in one area. Retro jerseys. The league is full of them, with plenty of teams boasting the kind of classic jersey that, whenever they get broken out over the course of a season, social media is quick to pick up on. The Toronto Raptors have an iconic one, so too do the Memphis (then Vancouver) Grizzlies.

This is an area where the Magic can hang with the best, because their old-school, pinstriped blue, as worn by Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway in the 90s, is among the most recognizable. One of those that you’re as likely to see in Orlando, as you are in Vietnam or on a beach in Wexford (I can vouch for both of those).

In recent years, however, the Magic have slipped up in this regard. Whereas other organizations have new classics, the Kobe Bryant-inspired Los Angeles Lakers threads they won a championship in, for example, the Magic have dropped efforts like this, and even more depressingly, this.

Some ideas have been bold, too bold. Others, such as last year’s iteration of the same jersey, with the black and orange combination, actually worked quite well. But they didn’t hit quite right. Until now. News coming early on Tuesday from the Magic of what their latest offering would be, and it is a beauty.

https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/1326181190001455104

Why is this important you say? They are after all only jerseys, it is the players who are in them that will make the difference, and you’re right. But you only need to look at the reaction to these works of art on social media, to see that fans are excited again. Like, we’re going back to the playoffs levels of excited, just because of new threads.

You might not be one of those suckers who buys team apparel year after year, but I am. I’ve gladly forked out in the past to pay over the odds for all three of these (I know, I know…), not to mention this thing (it was retro so you don’t even want to know how much that came to). There are Magic fans who do the same, and it actually makes a difference coming to a game feeling like you’re dressed well.

Is it going to make a difference in their final standings? No, but the prospect of looking good while hopefully beating up on some divisional opponents more often as a result of the 72 game season that is tipping off December 22nd is reason enough to be optimistic. Remember, these are the same fans who lived through not only some horrendous rosters during a prolonged rebuild but ones that didn’t look the part either.

The Orlando Magic bring back the old with the new

Bringing back the pinstripes, which is what the Orlando Magic are known for, but doing so against an orange color scheme is an innovative move forward. Really you can’t go wrong with the pinstripes at all with Magic fans, as both blue and white previous versions have gone down well.

But returning to that old school star on the jersey as well, while paying homage once more with the orange just like last season, is a great choice. It is just a shame that we likely won’t get to see Isaac wear the jersey at all this year. Which makes using his name as the player’s jersey of choice in the reveal video interesting.

The Magic clearly still believe he can be the best player on this team in a couple of years, he is still integral to their plans. Until then we’ll have to make do with nightly double-doubles from Vucevic in the jersey, as well as an array of high-flying Aaron Gordon dunks. When you consider what other franchises, like the Philadelphia 76ers for example, are doing, it makes this reveal even sweeter.

It will be exciting as well, to see whoever the Orlando Magic draft, as well as Chuma Okeke, in that uniform early in the year. Alongside Markelle Fultz, and with its bright design that pops while also retaining some of the past, it adds more excitement to what the franchise are quietly building. One thing’s for sure, casual fans will know exactly who they are every time they suit up in them this season.