Philadelphia 76ers: Time To Bring Back Black Jerseys

By George Kondoleon | Sep 25, 2016

January 2, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (4) moves in to score a basket against Los Angeles Clippers forward Wesley Johnson (33), forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (12) and center DeAndre Jordan (6) during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

The Philadelphia 76ers are under a new era of talent, but it’s time to bring back an old look.

Allen Iverson made his iconic look in Philadelphia 76ers gear, and it has created a type of mystique behind it. When you look at the black jerseys the Philadelphia 76ers rocked from 1997-2009, all you think of is Iverson putting a city on his back. You think of the introduction of Andre Iguodala into the NBA and his eventual rise to stardom.

The black and white jerseys were a representative look at the attitude of this franchise. Gritty, underdogs who always seemed to find flashes of success. There’s something about the color black that just spews intimidation, and it’s time for the Philadelphia 76ers to give that edge to it’s new core of potential stars.

Ben Simmons has the attitude and star power never seen since Allen Iverson, so it’s fair to honor him with the iconic jerseys that resonate with the fanbase. Now, bringing back black jerseys doesn’t mean changing the whole scheme of the current uniform look.

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The franchise went back to its historic red, white, and blue scheme in 2009, but did it in such a bland way. They just added “Sixers” to across the chest of their red jerseys, with blue lining. They did so with white and blue jerseys as well. The new image didn’t have any spark. That’s what influenced the newest jersey change before last season.

The Philadelphia 76ers did a beautiful job staying with red, white, and blue while adding stars and stripes down the side, a look now being adopted by the Washington Wizards and the Brooklyn Nets. The jerseys were a hit, after some nervousness that the stars and stripes would clutter the jersey.

The new uniforms were a perfect mix of old and new, and got praised from many across the media. Eric Freeman of Yahoo! Sports raved about the jerseys: “The key is that the Sixers figured out ways to inject nostalgic elements and minor branding notes without having them overwhelm what’s ultimately a pretty standard look”.

This new look is a great way for the franchise to move forward while looking back. They did fail to acknowledge a huge part of their history with a lack of black jerseys. What the organization can do in the future is implement it as an alternate jersey. Playing in the old black jerseys for 12 games give fans a nostalgic feeling while also creating a spurt in revenue to an already high selling jersey look.

“The key is that the Sixers figured out ways to inject nostalgic elements and minor branding notes without having them overwhelm what’s ultimately a pretty standard look” – Eric Freeman

Ben Simmons throwing a lob up to Joel Embiid in the same look Iverson shook the city would ignite fan excitement to new decree. If the organization is hesitant on going back to old looks, even doing a remix look on their current uniform look with the color black would bode well.

The Philadelphia 76ers have had a relatively good history when it comes to uniform additions. In the Iverson-era they successfully created a blue alternate to their 90’s look. In the early years of the NBA they were able to revolutionize the look of uniforms with the addition of stars and striped shorts.

The uniform gods have been relatively good to the organization, disregarding the horrendous 1991-1994 uniforms that included a blue wave of stars on red and white jerseys. Bringing back black jerseys will give the new era a nod as the next core to lead this team back to the promised land that Iverson reached on his own.

Next: Importance Of Sixers' Season

Many NBA teams implement 4 or even 5 jerseys to their regular lineup, so it wouldn’t hurt the Philadelphia 76ers to add a black jersey as their fourth regular uniform. Bringing back the black uniforms introduces a new era of fans to an aura of greatness.