NBA jerseys are going back to the future this season, as several teams are dusting off modern classics from the late-’90s and early 2000s.
ByMatthew Roberson
August 7, 2025
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Photographs: Getty Images; Collage: Gabe Conte
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We have reached the snooze-inducing period of the NBA calendar. Free agency and trade season have gone from frenzied to dormant, draft mania has ended, and Summer League has concluded. Now the only thing left to do is scour the internet for videos of your favorite player getting buckets against his personal trainer, looking newly svelte, or modeling his team’s new uniforms.
On that last note, we have been blessed in recent days to learn that many of the most beloved NBA jerseys in recent memory are coming back. Thanks to a flurry of tweets from Evan Sidery, a basketball reporter at Forbes, we know that at least 11 teams are bringing back old, fan-favorite jerseys this season. In some instances, that is beyond exciting. In others—looking at you, Knicks and Spurs—the news is fun, but doesn’t necessarily represent a huge upgrade.
Below, we have a look at the nine teams that have already knocked it out of the park by simply going through their own archives. A modern retro feel is going to hit NBA fans like a soothing balm, as over the last few years we’ve been bombarded with endless City Edition jerseys that either actively hurt the eyes or made absolutely no impression before they were mercifully kicked to the curb. If this crop of new announcements is any indication, the league is relishing in its history and saying no to change for the sake of change. It’s about damn time.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Kevin Garnett in 2003Rocky Widner/Getty Images
In one of the more obvious decisions in league history, the Minnesota Timberwolves are bringing back the black Christmas tree uniforms from the franchise’s glory years. When you close your eyes and picture Kevin Garnett’s time in Minnesota, your mind likely conjures an image of him in this get up, probably screaming at someone.
During KG’s heyday, the Wolves made eight straight playoff runs, appearing in the postseason every year from 1997 to 2004. With a new, equally exciting core in place, Minnesota is poised for a similar spree of success, and will do so with a much stronger closet than they’ve had in recent years. With their last two City Edition jerseys, the T-Wolves have really leaned into a wintry aesthetic meant to evoke the frigidity of a Minnesota winter. It…hasn’t really worked.
Naz Reid in the 2023-24 City Edition jerseyGlenn James/Getty Images
Anthony Edwards in the 2024-25 City Edition jerseyJordan Johnson/Getty Images
If this is a tacit admission from the franchise that those jerseys weren’t their best—and Sidery reported a full-scale rebrand could be coming soon—it would be wise for the Timberwolves to ditch the icy color palette completely and wrap their arms around this retro forest-inspired look. This news also signifies the T-Wolves’ newfound willingness to embrace Garnett, who had been notably estranged from his former team.
Chicago Bulls
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen at Madison Square Garden in 1997Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images
I mean, what is there really to say about these beauties? Having an instant visual reminder of Michael Jordan’s reign—when the Bulls were at their peak and this jersey was the coolest thing a person could wear—is certainly not a bad thing. Neither is a new addition to the rotation that prevents Chicago from ever having to wear these monstrosities again.
Josh Giddey in the 2024-25 City Edition jerseyJustin Casterline/Getty Images
A black, pinstriped jersey (in any sport, really) is a total layup. While the Bulls have kept a black jersey steadily in the mix since MJ left, they puzzlingly moved away from red pinstripes in favor of more muted white ones where the stripes are only noticeable on the shorts.
Coby White in the Statement Edition jerseyJeff Haynes/Getty Images
Re-integrating the more vibrant red is a massive win, perhaps the type that can finally get the Bulls out of play-in tournament purgatory.
Philadelphia 76ers
Allen Iverson during the 2001 NBA FinalsNathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images
Much like the Bulls with their ’90s revival, the 76ers are hearkening back to a time when they were both one of the best and the swaggiest teams in basketball. In the early 2000s, Allen Iverson was crossing up the entire league in a baggy, black, extremely Y2K uniform. As with many things from that era, the line between whether these are actually good or just full-on nostalgia porn has blurred into oblivion. But it feels safe to say that these are objectively cool, regardless of era.
While there’s nothing wrong with the 76ers’ standard red, white, and blue colorway, per se, it needed a little punch. A zhuzh. An Answer, if you will. It’s never a bad idea to smash the Iverson button.
Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James in 2010David Liam Kyle/Getty Images
One more time! A team with an iconic player in its history, a wildly era-specific jersey associated with that player, and a desperate need for a uniform shakeup has entered the chat again. There are few teams in the NBA with as disparate a jersey scrapbook as the Cavs, who began play in 1970 with a wine and gold color scheme, made a complete 180-degree shift to orange and blue in the ’80s, and then came all the way back around to their OG threads. (Not without a brief pit stop on whatever you call this.)
Brevin Knight in 1997Sam Forencich/Getty Images
The navy Cavaliers joint with the blue, cream, and red trim was one of the more distinct alternate jerseys of its time, and is now synonymous with LeBron James’ first stint in Cleveland. He was wearing this uniform when he scored 25 straight points against the Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals, during his first-ever playoff series against Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards, and when he gave Dwight Howard’s Magic 44 and 11 on the road. Now, as the Cavs once again find themselves in position to compete for a championship, they’ll do so while channeling the powerful, halcyon days of young Bron.
Dallas Mavericks
Fat Lever in 1991Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images
Then we have the Mavericks, who are zigging while the rest of the league zags. As the Timberwolves, Bulls, 76ers, and Cavaliers are reminding everyone of their best era, these Dallas threads are what the team wore during its worst era. The Mavs were completely absent from the playoffs from 1991 to 2000, when green was still doing most of the heavy lifting in their wardrobe. A calculated swerve away from the color—clearly trying to move on from a decade of ineptitude—yielded much better basketball, but pretty blasé jerseys.
No longer! While the team’s primary jersey is still going to feature the blue and white they’ve relied on for a quarter century, the kelly green, basketball-wearing-a-cowboy-hat iconography is back in a big way. Cooper Flagg, welcome to the league. You’re going to look incredible.
Brooklyn Nets
D'Angelo Russell in 2019Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images
While not as deep a throwback as the other jerseys on this list, enough time has passed to declare these a modern classic. Brooklyn’s 2018-19 Coogi-inspired homage to Biggie—the Nets called it “Brooklyn Camo”; Coogi called it a legal issue—went very hard at the time and doesn't feel dated at all.
In my opinion, more NBA teams should experiment with a wacky trim on their uniforms, especially when it provides a pop of color on an otherwise drab set of colors, as is the case here. Take the under on the Nets’ win total, but the over on their swag quotient.
Memphis Grizzlies
Pau Gasol in 2001Fernando Medina/Getty Images
Sneakily one of the most fashionable teams in the NBA now has another banger in their arsenal. The Grizzlies—who grabbed the league’s powder blue throne after the Nuggets foolishly phased out sports’ best color—are dialing it back to the 2001-02 campaign, the franchise’s first in Memphis after relocating from Vancouver.
While these are simple, they also come with a very unique colorway. History may forget that Pau Gasol, Shane Battier, and Jason “White Chocolate” Williams all wore this jersey in its original iteration. But with the current generation now able to witness this uniform’s on-court glory, the Grizz are well-positioned, fashion-wise, to make some hay this season.
Orlando Magic
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There’s nothing crazy or outlandish here, but the Magic still took a gargantuan step forward by slightly remixing their jerseys. In steering away from the new millennium and pulling the mothballs off their ’90s lookbook, Orlando re-discovered their most pleasing attire. These are going to look sick in game action and on fans who want to walk around repping the Magic. The only note here is that the black tops should be all black, rather than having a weird little swath of blue at the top.
Utah Jazz
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Finally, we have the Utah Jazz, a team that has been lost in the wilderness—sartorially and as a competitive squad—for some time now. Since originally turning their back on the purple mountains’ majesty of their Stockton-Malone zenith, the Jazz have played around with powder blue, navy, green, and yellow. Some of those attempts for a new identity really popped, and some of them were truly horrendous. But now, at long last, the purple is here to stay. For each of the last three seasons, the Jazz have utilized purple in some form on their alternate jerseys. In 2025-26, though, it will be the core color again. Allow us to be the first to say, welcome back.