When Ben Simmons says he wants the team to wear a black uniform, you get the team a black uniform.
That’s precisely what happened here, a couple of years after Simmons Tweeted out his wish to one day wear black — as they did in the Allen Iverson days — the team said they’d do so if he won the Rookie of the Year.
Well… he did, and now… black uniforms!
Taking its inspiration from the lighted houses of Boathouse Row, a series of houses decorated for the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, the Sixers’ new “City Edition” uniform features a typical night time view of this across the chest. The city name below in white with a blue drop shadow and the player’s number above in the same. Red and blue stripes trim the sleeves, collar, and waistband.
“We love telling stories through the 76ers brand, specifically of our great city and always honoring our history,” Philadelphia 76ers President Chris Heck said in the release. “This year, we celebrate our city edition uniform by blending the old and the new specifically for the greatest fans in the world to enjoy.”
A neat little element included within the row of houses are the letters “TTP”, short for the club’s longtime motto “Trust the Process”.
Down at the bottom of the jersey, by the “jock tag”, is “Philadelphia, USA” in bold blue lettering. A liberty bell is on the waistband of the shorts, and a dissected snake (not pictured) is included on the inside of the shorts.
The side of the shorts are blue with red trim, the team’s secondary “76” logo in red and white on each side.
“Growing up in Australia, I always associated the 76ers with the black uniform that Allen Iverson wore in the early 2000s. I’m a lover of both fashion and basketball, so to combine the two and be part of the design process for the first black 76ers uniform in over a decade was amazing,” Simmons said in the release. “I’m grateful the team included me from the jump and can’t wait to wear this jersey next season.”
The 76ers introduced their black uniform in the summer of 1997 and wore it through the end of the 2008-09 season, it was replaced with the team’s return to their original red, white, and blue colour scheme.
