After first leaking to the internet, the NBA has officially released its 2020-21 “Earned” jerseys—16 uniforms for fans to buy repping last year’s playoff teams plus a bonus two for the bubble teams close to the postseason. It’s why we’re going to look at the NBA Earned jerseys today.
There is a large variance in the offerings in 2020-21 from Nike, with the NBA’s Earned teams ranging from slight changes to existing jerseys we have seen before to huge redesigns for jerseys we have never seen.
Here is the NBA’s new Earned jerseys, ranked.
18. Portland Trail Blazers
I get the idea here with the washed-out colors, but for a Portland franchise with great jerseys and popping colors, it makes little to no sense to turn an iconic red and black uniform into just…gray and a different shade of gray.
These are not complete and utter disgraces (really, none of the Earned jerseys are), but it is definitely a miss.
17. Los Angeles Clippers
The other faded effect of an Earned jersey is the Los Angeles Clippers’ entry. It gets points for the charming colors piping the arm holes and sides of the shorts, but other than that these just look like ruined existing jerseys from the Clippers that faded in the laundry.
16. San Antonio Spurs
A popular design choice by the Spurs appears to be to take the secondary “U” spur logo and feature it with a number on alternative jerseys. This is not terrible, but it is not especially unique for the Spurs.
Instead of gray with black as the secondary color we have seen before, the Spurs changed it by reversing that formula with the number next to the spur.
15. Indiana Pacers
This is another not totally original design but reworked for the Indiana Pacers and still looks rather nice.
The pinstripes follows a familiar theme with alternative Pacers jerseys, and the yellow-gold certainly pops.
14. Orlando Magic
Orlando’s entry is eerily familiar of the Spurs jersey: take the secondary logo, make it big on the jersey’s chest, and add the number.
The Magic’s Earned jersey is pretty nice, though, with the blue siding and stars bedazzled as an understated but glamorous addition to the design.
13. Phoenix Suns
There will be some talk about the similarities between the Suns’ Earned and City Edition jerseys, but the colors are unbeatable here with Phoenix’s purple and orange popping off the threads.
The “Suns” read on the chest does somewhat evoke the previous iteration of the Phoenix franchise’s jersey before the most recent update to the collection, but it’s a recent throwback homage with a good idea featuring the purple between the shorts and jersey.
12. Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers use the faded theme like the Clippers and Blazers but make sure to dial back the washed-out effect so it’s not completely gray.
It would be criminal to completely wash away the iconic purple and gold from the Lakers’ fit. This is clearly not a huge separation from the current two-way offering of L.A.’s main jerseys, but the Earned collection gives a new edge to the Lakers’ threads with the gray-black primary color for the jersey and shorts and purple and gold trimming.
11. Philadelphia 76ers
Really the only mistake here is the numbering. The Sixers mixed together two throwback ideas in the cream jersey and shorts along with the Liberty Bell on the chest.
That being said, the number absolutely does not belong on the bell taking up space. Remove the number completely and this becomes an instant classic Earned jersey.
10. Dallas Mavericks
This is not much different between this Mavs jersey a previous alternative jersey they used to wear, but it is one of the better entries in the Earned collection. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
9. Brooklyn Nets
This is a nice and new design from the Brooklyn Nets that evokes the New York City subway. Another cool detail is the texture of the jersey and shorts, an arrow pattern painting all parts of the uniform.
This jersey could look especially cool with Kevin Durant wearing No. 7, making the “7” in the circle look like the subway line.
8. Oklahoma City Thunder
This is quite possibly the best Oklahoma City Thunder jersey we have had in ages, with OKC being marred with some truly terrible threads over the years.
Similar to the Mavs’ Earned jersey, this one for the Thunder uses two tones of blue—one light blue, the other navy—and looks to have the similar numbering on older OKC jersey, but the effect on “THUNDER” on the chest gives the look a more distinguished design.
7. Toronto Raptors
A truly unique design for the Toronto Tampa Raptors, the Raptors start with a baseline black jersey with “RAPTORS” spelled in an arrow formation—then top that off with a purple arrow across the shorts and jersey.
It is an interesting choice and looks pretty good in the micro if you focus on the shorts (with the secondary logo on one leg) or the jersey (with the purple arrow just encompassing “RAPTORS”).
6. Miami Heat
The Miami Heat change things up just a bit with a gold alternative to the stable and fashionable red-and-black jersey to which we are accustomed.
All the red we are used to seeing from the Heat is gone and replaced with gold—with the black staying. It’s not a truly unique design and change from what we normally see in their home and away unis, but it looks great and round what could be the best collection of jerseys for one team in the NBA.
5. Boston Celtics
This is a great, spruced-up and bright alternative to the Boston Celtics’ classic home and away pair of uniforms that have not changed much over the years. The Celtics deploy two different shades of green for the jersey and shorts and lettering/numbering. Then, the lining of the shorts and jersey as a neon green trim.
This is a standout effort for the Celtics.
4. Houston Rockets
The Rockets bring back the black jersey with some very cool features. In the past, we have seen the Rockets don their black jersey with “Houston” written in white on the chest. This time, we get “Rockets” in red with the logo on both sides of the shorts and red trimming along the sides of the entire ensemble.
3. Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks break out one of the standout designs for the Earned collection. A more muted shade of green makes up the entire outfit with their eye-catching cream-colored lettering.
The real shake-up is the deer antlers adorning the sides of the shorts and jersey, giving a very different look that we have seen over the years.
2. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets use their secondary logo here on the chest, disregarding any words like their home city or nickname to instead go with the dual mining emblem.
What really makes this uniform is the use of the white jersey as a canvas for colors. The secondary logo has a rusted red and blue, which is also featured on the top of the shorts and shoulders. There is also the subtle yellow outlining the number(s).
1. Utah Jazz
The best uniform in the Earned collection has to go to the Utah Jazz, who shake up the classic Jazz logo by using the music note without any text. Mixing up the colors here like some of the other teams, the bright green works great with yellow number(s), that is next to the note.
These are going to pop both in person and on television watching NBA games, and it should be a thrill to watch Donovan Mitchell and Co. playing in these.
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