NBA PLAYERS WILL USE TRANSITION FROM TANK TOPS TO T-SHIRT JERSEYS WITH NEW FABRIC TECHNOLOGY

HARRISON BARNES

 

Nearly 30 years ago – in the midst of Patrick Ewing wearing a T-shirt under his Georgetown jersey – Rick Welts envisioned a short-sleeve NBA game jersey.

But it didn't work out for the NBA or Welts, who at the time was a marketing executive with the league office.

"(NBA Deputy Commissioner) Russ Granik and I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out a way at that point if there was a way to create the short-sleeve jersey," Welts said. "Frankly, from a technology and performance standpoint, we really couldn't get to a point where we thought we had a jersey that worked. It was a big disappointment. We thought the timing was perfect."

The timing is perfect for the NBA today.

With technological advances in material and construction, Welts' idea will reach fruition on Feb. 22 when the Golden State Warriors debut a short-sleeve jersey against the San Antonio Spurs.

Adidas and the Warriors, where Welts is now president and chief operating officer, unveiled the short-sleeve jersey Monday. It is lighter than the regular tank-top style jersey, according to adidas.

"For me and for the organization, we're trying to set a really different path for the Warriors," said Welts, who always has been on the cutting edge of NBA progress. "Going forward, we see ourselves at the edge of innovation and hopefully performance. We're really excited about it."

Golden State will also wear the short-sleeve jersey on March 8 against the Houston Rockets and March 15 against the Chicago Bulls and possibly other games.

"It's the newest in line of innovations we've brought to the table by adidas Basketball that unites performance with bold, unique styles for players and fans, from the court to street," Lawrence Norman, vice president of adidas global basketball, said.

"The importance of this is this is the beginning of a change with regards to the way players look on court and the way fans support their teams."

This new uniform, shorts included, is made with 60% recycled material and adidas' ClimaCool ventilation system and is more comfortable and 26% lighter than Golden State's regular uniforms. Even with short sleeves, the jersey is 8% lighter than Golden State's tank-top jersey.

"Lightweight is a characteristic athletes have been asking for from sneakers to uniforms," Norman said. "They believe lighter is faster and we agree. Players are already wearing compression shirts under their jerseys. If you look at colleges, there's a lot of college players wearing shirts under their jerseys. Rec players are wearing t-shirts instead of tanks. There is a legitimate trend in the marketplace"
Of course, adidas wants to sell this new look to NBA fans, too.

"The aesthetic is that it's very cool because we have a lot of experience with this with European soccer teams Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich," Norman said. "Fans like the opportunity to wear a short-sleeve shirt to the games to support their team but also high school kids can wear in the hallways to the mall. It's a great solution for fans to support their teams.

Adidas met with Golden State owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber about 18 months ago to discuss the idea. Norman felt like he was making a 30-second movie pitch to Guber, who is a film executive.

"After about 10 seconds, he stopped me mid-sentence, 'Guys, I'm in.' He knew a great concept and he knows a great idea and he has an incredible vision," Norman said.

For adidas, the Oakland-San Francisco region made perfect sense to debut the cutting-edge jerseys because of its connection to modern technological innovation.

Welts foresees some negative reaction.

"I'm fully expecting there will be a lot of traditionalists out there who say, 'That's not what a basketball jersey is supposed to look like,' " Welts said. "Any change is going to evoke criticism and we know and expect that. But that's how you make progress and this is a progressive step on the jersey front.

"I don't sense this is a big leap. But whenever you make a change, you've got to expect there will be those who think it's not traditional and not the way we should go. But I think the players are going to love it."

Welts remembers when long shorts started to become the norm 20-plus years ago.

"I remember echoes of the same criticisms," he said. " 'Basketball is supposed to be played in short shorts. That's the way it's been and that's the way it should be.' There's no way you can get a player to put on short shorts today."

Adidas is in discussion with 5-10 other teams about wearing short-sleeve jerseys, but Norman declined to name those teams.

"There's been a tremendous amount of interest and excitement from other teams we've presented this to," Norman said. "It'll certainly be part of NBA locker rooms. … I envision the tank top and the short-sleeve jersey being part of basketball forever."

Said Welts: "I'm very bullish that you are going to see other NBA teams and other basketball teams follow suit."