PHOTOS: NBA going with classic look for next year's Christmas uniforms
Basketball on Christmas Day has long been a wonderful NBA tradition, with an increasingly packed slate split between marquee matchups and old-school rivalry games.
Unfortunately, the past couple iterations have been marred - aesthetically, at least - by some truly awful uniforms. The league's attempt to boost the marketability of the event with a spate of limited-time jerseys is a fine idea, in principle, but the execution - featuring ghastly sleeved outfits and hacky designs with players' first names or nicknames printed on the back - has left something to be desired.
Thankfully, the NBA finally appears to have gotten it right. Below are initial renderings of this year's Christmas uniforms, courtesy of Uni Watch's Paul Lukas.
These jerseys do away with the loud gimmicks and settle for a more bare-bones design, with sharp, cream-heavy color schemes and nifty cursive lettering meant to evoke the script on Christmas cards.
Since the NBA schedule has yet to be released, it's unclear which uniforms (and how many) will come to fruition. The designs were reportedly developed months ago, so there is one for every team - 26 of the 30 designs are up on Uni Watch's website.
One other cool feature: the NBA logo above the names and numbers on the backs of the jerseys is designed to look like sealing wax, extending the Christmas card motif.
- With h/t to SB Nation