Sixers fans will be happy to know that their team has officially joined the ranks of franchises that will debut a new “City Edition” jersey in the 2018-19 season. And to honor one of the city's big screen legends, portions of the design were inspired by “Rocky,” Sylvester Stallone's legendary boxer character.
There were several designs proposed for the Sixers' new City Edition kits, but the team ultimately chose to go with a heather gray variant to reference the gray sweatsuit Stallone wore in the training clips from his films.
Somewhat surprisingly, there is no team name written across the front of Philly's new CE jerseys. Instead, there are 13 stars arranged in a circular fashion around the numbers to mimic the 13 colonies on the original American flag. Along with the gray base coat, the jerseys also feature red, white, and blue striping to honor the city's importance in national history. Look closely, and you'll notice the figure of ‘Ballin Ben' (Ben Franklin) on the waistline, which is the team's alternate logo.
The @sixers Rocky inspired City Edition unis.#uniswag pic.twitter.com/GRmJCqn81w
— UNISWAG (@UNISWAG) October 30, 2018
According to a report from Zach Lowe of ESPN, Sixers players have already taken a liking to the new kits. In fact, a few Sixers players re-enacted scenes from Rocky in promotional videos. Ben Simmons posed for pictures in a local boxing gym. Robert Covington ran portions of the route that Rocky took during the films. And T.J. McConnell donned a gray sweatsuit and stood for pictures in a meat locker with his hands wrapped in tape.
“If we're gonna do this, I want to go all out,” McConnell told team officials. “I want to be in the meat locker. I was told they were so frozen solid, I might legitimately break my hand.”
According to a report from Jessica Camerato, the Sixers will debut their new City Edition uniforms on November 9th.
The #Sixers City Edition uniforms were inspired by "Rocky" and "Creed." They will debut them on November 9. pic.twitter.com/erSRwkNh0x
— Jessica Camerato (@JessicaCamerato) October 30, 2018
By most accounts, Philly's CE jerseys have been received well. They are subtle, yet meaningful. Let us know what you think of the design.