The Memphis Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors are both scrappy underdogs that have made drastic changes to their jerseys over the years, and their run in the 2013 Playoffs inspired us to reminisce about their threads.
Gideon Resnick: When the Grizzlies moved from Vancouver to Memphis, I was still being introduced to NBA Street. At the time, the Grizz had a much more intimidating logo, a full-body bear with sharp teeth and claws. That is the type of image upon which a franchise can build, like butter for Paula Deen’s or Eminem circa 1998 for Dre’s career.
In the 2013 Playoffs, the Grizzlies are sporting jerseys with this blue Brother Bear-looking animal that makes them look like they all went to a “Disney on Ice” show and got tripped up at the merchandise table. It looks like the Animorph bear version of Zach Randolph, basically two transformation levels higher than his basketball-playing state.
Rohan Nadkarni: According to exhaustive Wikipedia research, grizzly bears live in the “uplands of Western North America.” If the Grizz was going for a color change, why not mix up the logo? How about the Memphis Whiskey? The Memphis Hospitality? I’d say the Memphis Catfish, but we already know that mascot would scar way too many children for life.
GR: The jerseys of the Golden State Warriors have evolved over the years almost as much as David Bowie’s sexuality. The current one has a solid blue circle with Big Bird-yellow trim, and sports the Golden Gate Bridge inside the circle, also in Big Bird yellow. It’s pretty tame, particularly in comparison to the previous one that had a blue, chiseled guy with a lightning bolt in his hands. It’d be nice to see the Warriors bust out their old threads, even if it’s just to mess with Emperor Popovich’s head. They already got him to wear a tie, so the sky’s the limit.
RN: I actually prefer the Warriors’ new jerseys, which remind me of their old old jerseys. In ’70 and ’71, Golden State rocked the bridge in circle logo as well, but that time, the blue and yellow scheme was reversed. The blue-chiseled dude reminded me way too much of the villainous horde from your favorite sci-fi movie.
What the Warriors should really do is embrace the 1970s cult classic aptly titled “The Warriors.” All players should be required to wear headbands tied around their foreheads that look like the cut-off sleeves of red T-shirts. And they should make all the uniforms into buttoned vests. (I can’t link to the Snapchat I took of myself with a vest drawn on my shirtless body.) It can’t be worse than their odd-fitting short-sleeved unis.
