NBA: Ranking the 2020-2021 City Edition jerseys

With another round of NBA City Edition jerseys revealed, it is time to see where they rank. Not all creativity is created equal.

It has become something of a yearly tradition to look forward to what each franchise will do to their jersey lineup to express the culture of their home. Some teams have taken this as an opportunity to put out some of the most fun jerseys we have seen in decades, bringing fun to the league at every opportunity. Teams who have changed their style multiple times sometimes find a way to bring a taste of the past back into what they wear today. Others have a habit of staying boring and should be publicly criticized for it.

Obviously, these rankings are just one writer’s opinion. Everything about this is completely subjective so rather than just ranking them based on looks and leaving it at that there will be more involved. Part of this will be comparing them to what they usually wear and what they have used for this entry in the past. My personal rankings of last season’s jerseys can be found here.

These rankings will also reflect the lore and history behind the designs that they have given to each team this year. As state above, some teams get more creative than others in this regard and that should be celebrated. The City Edition jerseys are one of the most fun additions to the game in years. For those who love jerseys, it is a chance to finally get something different. Let’s dive into this year’s crop.

30. New York Knicks

It should honestly not be surprising at this point. A team owned by James Dolan perennially screws things up and this is another miss in a long line of misses. Of all of the things to want to embrace in one of the cultural centers of the country, the New York Knicks continue to want to symbolize the mundane: a subway token.

https://twitter.com/DailyKnicksFS/status/1322379888100286464

Granted it is cool that the jersey is black, something the team has not done in over two decades. That is not enough for it to climb this list. These jerseys are bad and the Knicks, Dolan, Leon Rose and everyone else should feel bad.

29. Cleveland Cavaliers

This started with a neat idea, as many of the Cleveland Cavaliers jerseys usually do, but somewhere along the way, they went off the rails. The Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city (if not part of their actual culture) so making reference to that is a neat idea.

https://twitter.com/cavs/status/1334505169749504002

Using the letters from David Bowie, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Sex Pistols, Metallica, Led Zeppelin and NWA just feels like doing too much. There is just no rhyme or reason to the selections and veers off of the actual culture of the city. If this is the chance they were going to take they may have been better off not doing one this year.