Toronto Raptors Get New Black Uniforms

For the 2008-2009 NBA season, the Toronto Raptors have returned to a black uniform...sort of. For fans and aficionados that can recall, when the Raptors changed to a sleeker design in 1999, as a switch-up from the original duds which featured the purple velociraptor and jagged pinstripes, the Canadian team initially wore a two-toned jersey that featured a black back and a purple front on the jerseys. With the new solid black uniforms, they are virtually just like like the home and primary away jerseys, except with the addition of a red maple leaf on the top back of the jersey and with the script on the chest of the jersey reading "TORONTO" instead of "RAPTORS" like the other uniforms.

From a personal and editorial standpoint, the jerseys are a personal favorite. They are smooth, trim and very classy in construction. The lines are clean and the black hue doesn't overpower the red and white that are in the jerseys. One of the things that makes it so great is that the design itself makes the uniforms visually pleasing. It's not over done with stripes or panels (though they are present), the wordmarks are unique and legible, and the color scheme is simple and equally used on all three of the main jerseys--this is unlike at least 25 percent of the teams in the NBA. Small touches like maple leaves and silver chevrons also make for a uniform that brings attention.

(Random conspiracy theory: Honestly, I believe that David Stern, the NBA's commissioner, had something to do with the decreasing use of the color black as a primary uniform color for a few reasons: 1) it became an in-vogue thing to do with the alternate jerseys in the 90s, 2) black didn't always reflect certain teams' actual team colors, and 3) somehow, (through mere conjecture) I wonder if there was any sort of "down" opinion on the idea of a significant portion of the players, most of whom are African American, or "black", wearing black uniforms; I propose this theory based on the very definition of what black represents, which is usually a negative meaning based from Webster's Dictionary and some of the social disconnect between the players and much of the fans being Anglo Americans--may it's just me.)

In any case, Toronto may very well be the best dressed team in the league in 2009.