Detroit Pistons Bring Back Totally '90s Teal Uniforms
Break out the Montell Jordan single, toss on your stonewashed jeans and keep a Crystal Pepsi nearby - the Detroit Pistons are bringing us back to the 1990s.
Detroit announced Monday that the team is returning to their stereotypical '90s uniforms for select games this upcoming season. These weren't the threads worn by your daddy's Bad Boys Pistons. Nope, these teal ensembles are as '90s as an episode of Blossom. Bright colors? Check. Enormous cartoonish logo? Check.
If a uniform could encompass a teenager acting out after their parents' recent divorce, these are them. They are a far cry from the Pistons' glory years of Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer and Joe Dumars. Simplicity of the red, white and blue - these are not. These scream "look at me," and were notably worn by next generation Pistons like Grant Hill and Jerry Stackhouse - who just so happened to model the threads for Monday's relaunch.
Detroit rocked these threads from 1996 to 2001, an era in which NBA teams regularly opted for cartoonish over classy.
Remember Charles Barkley sporting those awful Rockets uniforms with the giant rocket that looked like it was created by a fruit snack-filled first grader? Sure ya do.
Charles Barkley of the Houston Rockets looks on against the Golden State Warriors circa 1997 at the Arena in Oakland in Oakland, California. Copyright 1997 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
What about early career Vince Carter and the dinosaur that rented space on the jerseys of he and his Raptors teammates?
Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors laughs with Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics during a game circa 1999 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Copyright 1999 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images).
Of course the SuperSonics, Hawks and a handful of other teams went with a similar wardrobe, but you get the point.
In announcing the "Return Of The Teal," Pistons Chief Business Officer Mike Zavodsky said in a statement: “To Pistons fans everywhere – we heard you, and this is for you. The teal jerseys represent a ‘colorful’ time in Pistons basketball and NBA history. We are thrilled to re-introduce the teal to a new generation of basketball fans, and can’t wait to see this version of Detroit Basketball suit up in them.”
They may have been laughable two decades ago, but props to the Pistons for recognizing the fans' nostalgia. Fans and players alike will undoubtedly view these more favorably today than they did in the late '90s and early 2000s.
Detroit will throw it back to the '90s for roughly 10 games beginning with the 2022-23 season.
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