:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60499079/Messages_Image_4088883580_.0.png)
At long last, we have our first look at the new jerseys the Los Angeles Lakers will be wearing for the 2018-19 season and they’re ... well, new, I guess.
East coast sporting goods store Modell’s prematurely tweeted a picture of the new Lakers jerseys, which weren’t supposed to be unveiled until Monday, July 30. The picture has since been deleted, but luckily someone grabbed a picture of it before they took it down.
modell's tweeted these lakers jerseys and then deleted them. it's looking like showtime is back. pic.twitter.com/AscbMpX3On
— Whitney Medworth (@its_whitney) July 25, 2018
The first thing that pops out about these new unis is the color, and not in a good way.
The biggest gripe fans had with Nike’s Lakers jerseys last season was that the home color was more yellow than it was gold.
With the new jerseys, Nike had one job. They were given the opportunity to right their wrong, but unfortunately it looks like it’s still that same, almost highlighter, yellow.
However, as one Twitter user pointed out, the bright yellow could just be a result of bad lighting. Here’s the jersey with fixed lighting, courtesy of @Wells_P:
more accurate depiction of the New Lakers Jersey. Without the high flash and color cast. pic.twitter.com/GGHY370TTo
— Wells P (@Wells_P) July 25, 2018
Silver Screen and Roll’s own Grant Goldberg also took a crack at improving the jerseys and it’s hard to argue the gold doesn’t make the jerseys look significantly more clean:
I fixed the jerseys. pic.twitter.com/Vr1CdqtFXi
— Grant Goldberg (@GrantGoldberg) July 25, 2018
Hopefully fans won’t have to edit their photos to make their $240 jersey look cool, otherwise Nike could have a big problem on their hands.
Lakers fans have already started a petition to bring the gold jerseys back on change.org because of course they did. The petition already has 677 signatures. Amazing.
If it weren’t for the color being so unpopular, these jerseys might have been received with more enthusiasm. They bear a striking resemblance to the iconic Showtime jerseys, which fans, and even players, have been begging for the organization to bring back.
It’s hard to dislike any Lakers jersey that LeBron James will be wearing for at least the next three years, but the decision to go from gold to bright yellow isn’t settling well with the fans. With just under a week until the official launch date, hopefully Nike still has time to make a small, but important last-minute tweak.
You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.