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How to Start a Select Basketball Team
In recent years, basketball has reigned as the #1 team sport in the U.S. According to Sports Business Daily, more than 60 million people over age six play the sport. And 20 million youth between six and 17 play basketball.
Due to the sports’ immense popularity, many people are wondering how to start a select basketball team to grow the game in their area.
Starting a select youth basketball team requires passion and dedication - and a ton of time. But the rewards of seeing young players improve skills and build confidence can make it all worthwhile. Follow these steps to get started!
Skip to a Section...
Choose the Focus of Your AAU Program
When you first form a select basketball program, you probably have big ideas. You may dream of traveling across the country to compete in national events. Or you may want to build a competitive high school basketball program in your area by helping to develop players early.![]()
Those long-range goals may take years to reach. At first, you need to make decisions about team or club structure. If you plan to register with the Amateur Atheltic Union (AAU), you should know you’ll be setting up an AAU club. In the AAU structure, a club can consist of a single team or many teams. Note that there are three levels of AAU club membership that range from $30 to $300.
Also, you should know that there are other select basketball organizations besides AAU. You can look into the National Travel Basketball Association (NTBA) or regional travel leagues in your area.
You need to ask yourself some critical questions as well:
Are we focusing on one age group or multiple?
Are we offering both boys and girls basketball?
What do we hope to achieve in three years, or five, or 10?
Will your program be based in one community, or an entire region?
Do I want this to be a volunteer run program? Or do I want to have part time employees coaching and running the teams?
These focusing questions and others will help you scope your initial efforts and plan for the future.
Once you have an initial overview of the program you want to start you need to start promoting the new organization.
The easiest first step is to name the organization and create a social media page on either Facebook or Instagram. No need to try to do too much at first, just create a social media page for your teams and announce yourself to the world! You can post the initial goals of the organization and potential tryout dates, age groups, etc.
You should also get a high quality logo for your program. Nowadays you can get access to professional designers easily using services like Upwork or Freelancer. Just create an account and post a simple task for logo or branding creation, and you’ll get applications from designers to work on your logo for you. You can probably get a nice logo created for around $50.
A logo will go a long way toward establishing credibility for you club and getting interest from potential players.
Set Up a Website and Online Payments
When you’ve named or organization and created a logo, setting up a website for your basketball program can also be a simple process and will be a credibility builder for your new organization.
A website should serve as the central location to post information like rosters, coaching profiles, your Mission Statement, and organization history. You should also use your website to register players for tryouts and collect club fees, post tournament schedules, and list event recaps.
As your program grows you can also list organization accomplishments - like tournaments won, college commitments, and academic achievements as your club progresses.
Depending on the software provider you choose for your program, you can also run online registration and communicate with parents through your website.
A website is a great tool to promote your basketball program throughout the year, and also manage all of the administration for your teams.
Form Your First AAU Basketball Team
After you’ve established your initial focus, you are ready to form your first team. You’ll need to secure a coaching staff first.
Parents with high school or college playing experience or current high school players may make good coaches.
If you can find like-minded parents that have experience playing or coaching, you might be able to build a coaching staff for your team quickly.
Once your coaching staff is in place, it’s time to select players. You’ll want to hold open tryouts to find the right mix of players and aim to recruit a few standouts. Try to work with the local high school programs or recreational youth programs to get the word out about your organization.
Getting your roster set is a huge step. Tell everyone to register for an AAU membership if you plan to participate in AAU basketball tournaments. Make sure your team is signed up with NTBA if you want to take part in that league’s events.
Secure Locations and Set Up Schedules
Now you are ready to start holding practices. The advantage of having a select team is that you can choose practice times that work for everyone involved.
Keep in mind that select basketball is a big commitment. And that youth athletes need time for rest between practices and games to avoid the risk of overuse injuries and burnout.
According to NBA youth basketball guidelines, players age 11 and under should have at least two rest days per week, with athletes age 12 to 18 needing at least one rest day. The NBA also recommends the following maximum weekly limits for young players:
Make sure not to overwork your players. Practice time should be limited to a couple of days per week, especially if they haven’t entered high school yet.
In choosing a practice location, put safety considerations first. The AAU facility checklist offers excellent tips, such as:
Make sure the playing surface is in proper condition
Ensure the playing area has proper markings
Make sure lighting is adequate
Ensure that facilities like bathrooms and locker rooms are in good condition
Often, secondary schools or recreation centers are good facility options. You’ll need to consider available space, times, and costs in selecting your practice venue.
Select Events and Calculate Costs
After you’ve established your team and practice schedule, you can start researching events.
On the AAU website or Exposure Events, you can search by age, state, event type, and more. Youth basketball tournaments take place across the United States, nearly every weekend of the year. However, you’re likely to want to stay closer to home during your first seasons of select basketball.
Keep in mind that tournament registration fees can add up quickly. And travel costs can add up for families too. According to cost data from USA Today High School Sports, playing on a very active team that travels most weekends can cost families up to $5,000 for two seasons of play. If your team can secure sponsorships, you may be lucky enough to lower those costs down to as little as $500 annually.
Start Growing Your Select Basketball Program
For many talented athletes, a select program is a better fit than rec basketball. If your community doesn’t yet have a select team, why not consider starting one? Elite teams help top players improve basketball skill levels and develop their talents.
Select basketball is a big commitment for parents, players, and coaches. But select teams offer young athletes a chance to compete at elite levels. And some tournaments offer exposure to college basketball recruiters. You can play a significant role in helping a gifted player maximize potential by starting a select basketball team.
Additional Resources
The 6 Top Youth Basketball Drills for Coaches
How to Build a Website for a Youth Sports Program
The Best Tools for Nonprofit Sports Organizations
How to Find Companies that Sponsor Youth Sports
How to Apply for Grants for Youth Sports
How to Start a Select Basketball Team
In recent years, basketball has reigned as the #1 team sport in the U.S. According to Sports Business Daily, more than 60 million people over age six play the sport. And 20 million youth between six and 17 play basketball.
Due to the sports’ immense popularity, many people are wondering how to start a select basketball team to grow the game in their area.
Starting a select youth basketball team requires passion and dedication - and a ton of time. But the rewards of seeing young players improve skills and build confidence can make it all worthwhile. Follow these steps to get started!
Skip to a Section...
Choose the Focus of Your AAU Program
When you first form a select basketball program, you probably have big ideas. You may dream of traveling across the country to compete in national events. Or you may want to build a competitive high school basketball program in your area by helping to develop players early.
Those long-range goals may take years to reach. At first, you need to make decisions about team or club structure. If you plan to register with the Amateur Atheltic Union (AAU), you should know you’ll be setting up an AAU club. In the AAU structure, a club can consist of a single team or many teams. Note that there are three levels of AAU club membership that range from $30 to $300.
Also, you should know that there are other select basketball organizations besides AAU.
You can look into the National Travel Basketball Association (NTBA) or regional travel leagues in your area.
You need to ask yourself some critical questions as well:
Are we focusing on one age group or multiple?
Are we offering both boys and girls basketball?
What do we hope to achieve in three years, or five, or 10?
Will your program be based in one community, or an entire region?
Do I want this to be a volunteer run program? Or do I want to have part time employees coaching and running the teams?
These focusing questions and others will help you scope your initial efforts and plan for the future.
Once you have an initial overview of the program you want to start you need to start promoting the new organization.
The easiest first step is to name the organization and create a social media page on either Facebook or Instagram. No need to try to do too much at first, just create a social media page for your teams and announce yourself to the world! You can post the initial goals of the organization and potential tryout dates, age groups, etc.
You should also get a high quality logo for your program. Nowadays you can get access to professional designers easily using services like Upwork or Freelancer. Just create an account and post a simple task for logo or branding creation, and you’ll get applications from designers to work on your logo for you. You can probably get a nice logo created for around $50.
A logo will go a long way toward establishing credibility for you club and getting interest from potential players.
Set Up a Website and Online Payments
When you’ve named or organization and created a logo, setting up a website for your basketball program can also be a simple process and will be a credibility builder for your new organization.
A website should serve as the central location to post information like rosters, coaching profiles, your Mission Statement, and organization history. You should also use your website to register players for tryouts and collect club fees, post tournament schedules, and list event recaps.
As your program grows you can also list organization accomplishments - like tournaments won, college commitments, and academic achievements as your club progresses.
Depending on the software provider you choose for your program, you can also run online registration and communicate with parents through your website.
A website is a great tool to promote your basketball program throughout the year, and also manage all of the administration for your teams.
Form Your First AAU Basketball Team
After you’ve established your initial focus, you are ready to form your first team. You’ll need to secure a coaching staff first.
Parents with high school or college playing experience or current high school players may make good coaches. If you can find like-minded parents that have experience playing or coaching, you might be able to build a coaching staff for your team quickly.
Once your coaching staff is in place, it’s time to select players. You’ll want to hold open tryouts to find the right mix of players and aim to recruit a few standouts.
Try to work with the local high school programs or recreational youth programs to get the word out about your organization.
Getting your roster set is a huge step. Tell everyone to register for an AAU membership if you plan to participate in AAU basketball tournaments. Make sure your team is signed up with NTBA if you want to take part in that league’s events.
Secure Locations and Set Up Schedules
Now you are ready to start holding practices. The advantage of having a select team is that you can choose practice times that work for everyone involved.
Keep in mind that select basketball is a big commitment. And that youth athletes need time for rest between practices and games to avoid the risk of overuse injuries and burnout. According to NBA youth basketball guidelines, players age 11 and under should have at least two rest days per week, with athletes age 12 to 18 needing at least one rest day. The NBA also recommends the following maximum weekly limits for young players:
Make sure not to overwork your players.
Practice time should be limited to a couple of days per week, especially if they haven’t entered high school yet.
In choosing a practice location, put safety considerations first. The AAU facility checklist offers excellent tips, such as:
Make sure the playing surface is in proper condition
Ensure the playing area has proper markings
Make sure lighting is adequate
Ensure that facilities like bathrooms and locker rooms are in good condition
Often, secondary schools or recreation centers are good facility options. You’ll need to consider available space, times, and costs in selecting your practice venue.
Select Events and Calculate Costs
After you’ve established your team and practice schedule, you can start researching events. On the AAU website or Exposure Events, you can search by age, state, event type, and more. Youth basketball tournaments take place across the United States, nearly every weekend of the year.
However, you’re likely to want to stay closer to home during your first seasons of select basketball.
Keep in mind that tournament registration fees can add up quickly. And travel costs can add up for families too. According to cost data from USA Today High School Sports, playing on a very active team that travels most weekends can cost families up to $5,000 for two seasons of play. If your team can secure sponsorships, you may be lucky enough to lower those costs down to as little as $500 annually.
Start Growing Your Select Basketball Program
For many talented athletes, a select program is a better fit than rec basketball. If your community doesn’t yet have a select team, why not consider starting one? Elite teams help top players improve basketball skill levels and develop their talents.
Select basketball is a big commitment for parents, players, and coaches. But select teams offer young athletes a chance to compete at elite levels. And some tournaments offer exposure to college basketball recruiters.
You can play a significant role in helping a gifted player maximize potential by starting a select basketball team.
Additional Resources
The 6 Top Youth Basketball Drills for Coaches
How to Build a Website for a Youth Sports Program
The Best Tools for Nonprofit Sports Organizations
How to Find Companies that Sponsor Youth Sports
How to Apply for Grants for Youth Sports
New NBA uniforms are on fire - Blogg on the floor - Blogs
Everyone is excited about the redesign.
Last summer, the official outfitter of the NBA changed: adidas was replaced by the shoe giant, which for the last 30 years has been strongly associated with basketball - Nike. A change in uniform supplier is a great time to redesign uniforms, and many NBA clubs have made radical or cosmetic changes to old colors for new ones.
But the matter was not limited to one restyling. Here's what changed with the move to Nike:
• The material from which the forms are sewn has become lighter.
The first version was too flimsy, but Nike tailors were able to overcome the problem of torn shirts.
• For the first time, the outfitter's logo was featured on kits (Nike for 29 clubs, and their sister brand Jordan for the Michael Jordan-owned Charlotte Hornets), and for most teams, a sponsor's logo. At first, there were a lot of squeals and protests, which gradually faded away - we have not heard criticism of advertising on the form for a long time. The panic has stopped.
• Clubs have begun to play regularly in a "color rush" format - both teams enter the court in colored kits, and not light against dark, as was customary in the past.
• No more sleeves on T-shirts.
• But hoods on training jackets.
• Last but not least, each club received four different kits (another six teams sometimes play in retro kits, but that's another story).
These four lines even have their own names: the white kit is called the Association and symbolizes the unity of all 30 clubs of the Association, each of which has a white kit.
The color set is called Icon and symbolizes the individual club colours. Interestingly, the Lakers' association uniform was the white uniform (since such rules), in which they used to play only on Sundays, and the "color" uniform was the traditional home yellow. But, as we said, the home / away format was generally scrapped with the advent of Nike.
The traditional Lakers away kit in purple was sent to the third group: Statement. Basically, it contains kits in which the primary and secondary colors are swapped. For example, Washington's Statement jersey became the primary blue as it was in their third kit, and Boston's first-ever black kit was sewn on. The Statement series was presented right before the start of the season.
They decided to open the fourth one only by the New Year, and the teams themselves showed new clothes only in 2018. And most of them are real slam dunks. Sales of the new jerseys, which are completely different from the traditional jerseys, have broken all forecast figures and received rave reviews from ordinary fans, picky journalists, fashion critics and the players themselves.
The fourth kit is called "City Edition" and symbolizes the team's connection with the region, its history, the history of the club itself.
Let's go through all 30 new shapes and what inspired each one.
Atlanta
Atlanta decided to create a set of their current colors - red, black, "neon" yellow - apparently because not all fans got used to them in two years, and to introduce some new shades meant to harm the new brand. The red was removed, and a semblance of a 1970s uniform worn by the legendary Pete Maravich (pictured) (of course, on the right) was glued together from black and acid. In non-standard blue-lime colors, Atlanta played only 2 seasons, and then for 35 years it was repainted in red-yellow.
Boston
If the Celtics fans loved the new black jerseys, the gray jersey was a disappointment. Firstly, we saw this with adidas, and there was a lot of criticism even then. Secondly, a small ornament a la parquet masonry is not noticeable at all, the shape is just gray (in every sense).
Thirdly, the City Edition should symbolize some kind of connection with the city - Nike has not heard at all that Boston and the Celtics in particular celebrate St. Patrick's Day on a grand scale every year - including in their game form. ?
One of the worst sets.
Brooklyn
Another set that doesn't show much of the designer's intent: the Brooklyn's uniform has thin stripes inspired by the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge. However, the idea itself is original, and jerseys look good. However, of the four Nets kits, two are black and one is dark grey. Variety would be nice, and while the Nets stick to a strictly black-and-white identity, they used to have an alternate uniform in other colors in honor of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Washington
The Wizards emphasize that they are from the US capital. The inscription "District of Columbia" is on the chest, and the uniform is completely white - like the white marble buildings-symbols of "Washington": the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial.
There are even small “marbled” inserts on the sides of the form. A good option for what can be done on the basis of a completely white form. There is one problem: the numbers are completely unreadable, and it is not at all clear how the arbitrators deal with this.
Golden State
Until 1971, the Warriors played across the Bay, not in Oakland, but in San Francisco. And they will move (swim?) back next year, when a new arena opens on the opposite bank. The team has maintained contact with San Francisco all these years and regularly celebrated the Chinese New Year: in the city, every tenth resident is of Chinese origin, and the diaspora of the entire megalopolis around the Gulf is almost half a million. This is the main center of Chinese culture in the US, and in honor of Chinatown, the Warriors have been playing in Chinese New Year uniforms for several seasons. In past years, the jerseys were black or white, now the uniforms are in the traditional yellow colors of the GSV.
Both the bridge across the Gulf and the dragon are successfully inserted into the logo. The hieroglyphs "well-being" were moved to the belt.
With this kit and the black "The Town" kit, the Warriors win this season's best alternate uniform race.
Dallas
When this uniform first appeared, everyone started to vilify it - boring, basic, black for the sake of black, colors do not match, the reference to the Dallas skyline is very dubious. It's true, and this is one of the worst kits in this series, but on the TV picture, the shape was not as terrible as it seemed at first. Perhaps because it went to games against the contrasting yellow Lakers and Nuggets.
Dallas seemed frustrated that they didn't have time to redesign and take the blue-bright green colors before the Minnesota, and tried to cram it all into a black alternative kit. Did not work out.
Denver
The Denver has a serious identity problem: the shade of yellow on the Nuggets' jersey has been canary instead of gold for many years.
And it should be gold. Nike tried to fix that, and the dark yellow looks good on the City kit. At the same time, an alternative logo with picks was found where to attach it. But the main thing here is the shorts. The ornament on them resembles from different angles either the Rocky Mountains or the skyscrapers of Denver. The idea is to create a feeling of altitude, which the locals are so proud of, because Denver is at an altitude of about 1600 m (and this sometimes creates problems for away teams who are not used to thin air).
Detroit
The automobile capital of America is going through a period of crisis (which has not ended for several decades), and in their form, the Pistons (aka “pistons”) are trying to remind that it is here, in Michigan, appeared and put the country on the wheels of Ford, Chrysler and GMC. On the sides of the navy uniform is a silver molding that is supposed to symbolize the chrome parts of classic cars, like the grille on the Ford F-1 pickup.
And the proud inscription "Motor City" on the chest.
"Indiana"
Another US auto capital is Indianapolis, though not a car building one, but a racing one. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts a variety of racing series each year, including the Indianapolis 500, part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix. .
The Pacers uniforms were done in the traditional colors of the club, but they put the game numbers in a circle, like on racing cars, and at the same time painted the vertical yellow stripe with the checkered finish flag.
Cleveland
The new Cavs slogan is Defend The (cleve)Land. The new uniform was meant to reflect that motto and the club's connection to the city, but the trouble is, there aren't many recognizable landmarks in Cleveland. We stopped at the Art Deco statues on the Hope Memorial Bridge. These are the "guardians of transportation", which symbolize the "progress of traffic" (near Cleveland, in Akron - LeBron's home - the tire giants Firestone and Goodyear were founded, which maintained basketball clubs in the NBL, the NBA's progenitor league).
A shape representing statues, representing traffic, representing the tire industry... not a very good idea, is it? The kit is made in gray, "stone" color, and on the sides of the form there are inserts with the silhouette of the statues themselves.
In the history of the Caves, there were all colors except green, so something more interesting could have been invented.
Clippers
The only kit that hasn't been shown in the game yet (but we did see it during the competitions at the All-Star Game). Clippers reminisce about moving from Buffalo to California at 1978 - first in San Diego, moved to LA six years later. The colorway is almost identical to that one - and it’s also a great option for a complete redesign of the Clippers, because there are a lot of blue and red teams (Detroit, Phil, Washington, New Orleans), but blue and orange will become branded and with the historical colors of the club. It's like a clean, perfect base uniform for Oklahoma.
You need to pick it up before they catch on.
Three nautical flags on the shorts, which read either "L-A-C" or "Immediately stop the vessel. I have a diver. I confirm."
The Lakers
LAL turned Nike's City Series, which is supposed to change kits every year (to sell more new jerseys to fans), into their own Lore Series line. Each new kit will be designed by a club legend and will reflect his personality. Kobe was the first to entrust this important matter (although it was worth turning to the elders first, because Bryant still had time).
The Mamba Uniform is an improved version of the old Hollywood Evenings kit - an almost completely black uniform with small snakeskin ornaments. The design itself (excluding colors) is like the classic LAL uniform that Kobe made his NBA debut at 1996 year. Bryant insisted that the uniform be black - gray was originally planned, because black mambas are actually gray in color, and they are called black because of the color of the inner cavity of the mouth (Nike designers just wanted to make the inside of the uniform black).
And it's good that Kobe convinced of the need for black. We would not have taken out another gray uniform, there will be three more pieces below the list.
Miami
Oh, this never-ending fashion for the 80s. I've never liked the aesthetic of this era, all the flashy accents, nylon, spandex, polyester, and artificial plasticity in everything.
...but I think the "Hit" shape is just perfect. The best in the City line. The beauty. Pink and blue - straight from the poster of the series "Miami Vice". The Heat have played in this uniform ten times already, the demand for new jerseys was higher than for cocaine in Miami in the 80s, there was only one thing missing ... club. That is, on the official website, you will not order the Lakers uniform with the number 23 and the surname "James". It just so happened that Miami's doomed-to-cult kitsch came out at the same time that Dwyane Wade was playing for Cleveland. Solution?
We need to get Wade back.
After Dwayne's trade to his native club, the already high sales of the new uniform increased by 80 (!) times, and the Heat themselves never changed clothes after the exchange - Wade played all three games in the new kit.
Nike's intention is that the fourth kit will be updated every year to keep fans stocked with new merch. If after this season we don't see this form again, it will be a failure. She is gorgeous. Of course, it is possible to upgrade the kit by making it blue or pink instead of white, but the effect is unlikely to be the same.
#nikeleave the shapemiamivice
P.S. It’s a good thing that this form appeared in the sleeveless era, otherwise adidas would have ruined everything by inserting shoulder pads in the fashion of the 1980s into T-shirts.
Memphis
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, which took place in Memphis, where the MLK went on a garbage collectors strike. The "I AM A MAN" slogan from the protesters' posters is in the clean design of the black and white Memphis uniform that the Grizzlies first wore on Martin Luther King Day, January 15th.
On the side of the shorts is an ornament that folds into the letter "M" - Memphis and Man together.
This is a very simple form with a social connotation, so it is pointless to look for any pluses or minuses in it. With great success, one can analyze the original posters from the rallies in Memphis.
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is nicknamed "Cream City" after the color of the historic buildings, which are bricked from local clay with a characteristic creamy hue. When the Bucks redesigned two years ago, they added black, white, a subtle blue and light beige, aka "cream", to the traditional green. The redesign was praised by everyone, but lamented that the club did not dare to make the home kit cream instead of the classic white version.
Meet Milwaukee Bucks Cream Uniform! We waited. The "rainbow" was moved from the sides of the shirt to the chest, and they also framed the letter "M" at the bottom of the shorts. There is absolutely nothing to complain about.
Freaky set. Like the form of "Miami", it must be kept.
Minnesota
Wolves. Wolves. Everything is simple.
New Orleans
American holidays have official colors. Red and green are for Christmas. Halloween is associated with orange and black. Thanksgiving - all "autumn": orange, brown, yellow and red.
Mardi Gras, also known as "Fat Tuesday" and the last day before the Catholic Lent, also has its own colors - purple, green and yellow. Carnivals have been held in the French Quarter of New Orleans for almost 200 years, during which it is customary to scatter beads, choose a carnival king, bare your chest in front of strangers and, of course, get drunk. It has become as much a part of the city's culture as jazz or gumbo soup, and the Pelicans once again pay tribute to it.
When the Pelicans were still called the Hornets, this uniform was even two-tone - purple in front, green in the back, but this time they decided to limit themselves to a more restrained design.
New York
By darkening the traditional blue-orange colors, the Knicks combined the identity of a variety of historical uniforms, while also paying tribute to the New York firefighters. The standard emblem of the fire departments - a Maltese cross with images of a hydrant, hook, ladder, helmet, hose or other fire equipment - has not been used in New York for a long time (they have a different one), but it remained on the flag. The shorts bear the US Firefighters Association logo.
The set looks very nice in the photos with the color adjusted, but still a bit dark on the TV picture. This is the only complaint about a very cool uniform. All proceeds from the sale of this uniform and related souvenirs will go to support the families of the fallen firefighters.
Oklahoma City
Many share my opinion that this is the worst form of the City series. Firstly, it's like a man went out for a walk in the rain and soaked his T-shirt on top.
Secondly, even a child with poor color perception can make such a design if he has two random felt-tip pens and an old T-shirt. Thirdly, the yellow outline around the gray numbers on a gray background gives this form an exceptional shade of cheapness.
Fourth, it is completely incomprehensible what it means. Usually Oklahoma has ugly basic shapes but great alternates; this time and the new set is nauseating.
Orlando
The club's PR service mumbles something about magic in the solar system (where the hell is the solar system? is this white dot? or this white dot? or this?) and Florida's connections with aerospace industry, but we understand what it's all about. See the Disney logo on the uniform? This is the title sponsor of the Magic, because next to Orlando is one of the two American Disneylands. The stars on the Magic uniform are almost indistinguishable from the stars in Disney's Fantasia, which shone the magician Mickey Mouse. They even planned to make the uniform more purple, to match the color of the cartoon sky, but then left it blue.:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/7804002/20120707_gav_sv5_038.jpg)
If you like t-shirts and sweatshirts with gaudy space prints, then this is the uniform for you. If you are far from this fashion, but root for Orlando, wait for the next year - there will be something new. For example, the painted white beard of the Disney Merlin. Suitable for colors.
Portland
With their new uniform, the Blazers pay tribute to their legendary coach Jack Ramsey, who led the club to its only championship in 1977 and loved plaid tweed pants, suits and (of course) blazers.
Unfortunately, the black tartan on Portland's dark charcoal uniform is almost invisible, although Zach Lowe says it looks great in real life. Perhaps, in order to feel the effect of this form, you need to buy either a ticket to the front row for a PTB match or plasma.
"Sacramento"
In 1985, the club moved to a new city for the third time - this is how the first sports team appeared in the capital of California, Sacramento. In honor of the pastel blue colors of the first uniform of the Sacramento Kings, the City kit was created.
Unlike the Clippers, the Kings heavily reworked the historic uniforms, leaving only the base colors unchanged. Instead of the iconic Kings lettering, there is an alternative logo with a lion, and a white yoke makes the set look like a training one.
"San Antonio"
Last summer, San Antonio City Hall officially designated the city the "US Military City." There are four military bases in the city (there used to be even more), the historic Fort Alamo, and almost 100,000 residents of the city are involved in the military industry. The Spurs have been holding events to honor the military for years, which is no surprise given that club legend David “Admiral” Robinson is a Navy second lieutenant who spent two years in the Navy instead of playing in the NBA; club owner Peter Holt received the Purple Heart in Vietnam; and Gregg Popovich served in the Air Force for five years and coached the Air Force Academy basketball team for another six years.
The attitude towards this form also depends on your preferences.
Fans of camouflage will like it, the rest are unlikely.
On the other hand, how else can you diversify the black, white and gray uniform of the Spurs?
Toronto
Drake's ego continues to inflate like a Raptors mascot. One of the Toronto kits is now always made in the black and gold colors of Drake's October's Very Own fashion line. To stick an owl on T-shirts, however, he has not yet been allowed.
Aside from the connection of the form with Drake, it looks great. The up arrow (also found on the left side of the shorts) indicates the direction of "north", which is associated with the Raptors' "We The North" slogan.
And as long as the slogan isn't "We The Drake", it's okay.
Philadelphia
If you don't know why the Philadelphia team is called the Seventy-Sixers, then you're just not familiar with American history. In 1776, it was here that the Second Continental Congress was held, at which the Declaration of Independence was signed and the thirteen colonies were declared independent from the British crown.
The new Sixers uniform is based on the yellowish tone of the old parchment, and the inscription "Philah" is made in lettering, reminiscent of the handwritten version of the Declaration.
But if the cream shade in the Bucks uniform really stands out, then in Philadelphia they “under-twisted” the color of their kit - on the TV picture and live it looks just white. The kit, which is very nice in all other respects, simply does not give the effect intended by the designers. Fix that next year and we'll have an iconic uniform.
"Phoenix"
A beautiful combination of two shades of purple, it is unclear what inspired. Phoenix is celebrating the days of Hispanic culture and going from Suns to Los Sans, but why was orange removed from the kit and purple was introduced? How does this apply to Hispanics? Nobody explains.
The Sun's inspiration (as the sun is supposed to be) was taken from the sky - the most beautiful Arizona sunsets color it purple (the club's standard orange-violet palette is also from there).
On the back, painted in a lighter shade, is the constellation Phoenix.
The shape looks great from the front (as it should be for a product in an online store, and this is the main goal for creating new kits), but the back is too striking for the inconsistency of colors on T-shirts and shorts. In "Phoenix" they tried to combine all the ideas into one set, and even tie it to the Latin American diaspora, but it was worth stopping at one thing. Repaint the back, add a little bit of orange elements - and you can use it as the main one.
Houston
I would say the same words as in the paragraph about San Francisco, about the Chinese diaspora... but Houston is only the 17th most important center of Chinese culture in the USA. Even the modest Texas city of Plano is higher in this ranking. So really, the Rockets' Asian tradition comes exclusively from basketball. Houston are still incredibly popular in China - even though the club's legendary center Yao Ming retired 7 years ago.
An American of Chinese (Taiwan) origin, Jeremy Lin, also managed to play for Houston for two years, and now there is a young Chinese player Zhou Qi in the squad. The Rockets have traveled to preseason games in China in 2004, 2010, 2013, and 2016—twice as many other NBA teams—and have also hosted the Shanghai Sharks, of which Yao is president, for the past two years.
Since 2015, the Rockets have been celebrating Chinese New Year with Chinese characters on their chests. The standard design of the red uniform, but instead of "Rockets" - 火箭 (naturally, "Rockets"). Most likely, such an unprincipled option was imposed by the club itself, which planned events on the theme of the Chinese holiday even before Nike replaced adidas and began to develop new jerseys.
"Chicago"
In dynamics, this form is similar to the new "Miami", only worse. In fact, all elements of the form have a historical justification: the flag of Chicago is white with blue stripes and four red six-pointed stars.
The inscription "Chicago" is from the form of the first season of Jordan in the NBA (only the number on the jersey was raised higher). The hidden label (which is on all forms) reads "Sweet Home" - from the blues song "Sweet Home Chicago", part of the local folklore that appeared including in the Blues Brothers.
Almost classic kit, in uncommon for the club, but not aggressively wild colors, with clearly defined sources of inspiration - the ideal alternative kit. Perhaps not the most beautiful, but made according to all the canons.
Charlotte
As soon as the historic name of the Hornets was restored, Charlotte began to incite residents to associate the city with the name "Buzz City" - as Portland basketball fans call "Rip City" and Houston - "Clutch City" ". The inscription "Buzz City" (a pun - buzz is the buzz of a wasp / bee / bumblebee / hornet, and the excitement, rumble, noise of the city) continues to show off on a spare set of Charlotte uniforms.
Classic colors - turquoise and purple - remained on the sides, decorated with a mesh to the very edge of the shorts. They should symbolize the wings of a hornet.
However, there are no hornets with wings of this color. There are several types of burrowing wasps with iridescent purple wings, there is a carpenter bumblebee, but not a hornet.
But these are minor quibbles. Everyone loves the shape. Even insectologists.
Utah
This is a great shape.
But not for Utah.
The creators of this form tried to show that the most recognizable natural landscape in the United States - canyons - is not only in Arizona (Grand Canyon), but also in Utah. Iridescent rock gradients inspired this burgundy-orange-yellow shape. On the sides of the jersey are red broken lines indicating tourist routes from Salt Lake City to St. George and Moab. Donovan Mitchell wears the bright colors of the Tequila Sunrise, much like his dad, the non-major league baseball player drafted by the Houston Astros that made the color iconic in the sport.
Except these aren't Jazz colors at all. The club already has enough of them. They were purple and yellow. Violet-blue. Black and brown. Blue-blue. Blue-green-yellow. They already had all the colors in their palette, except for red and orange - now they have these.
Such a design could become permanent in some other club, whose original livery is closer to these warm colors (the same Phoenix, for example, or Atlanta, or Houston, or some new club) . But now this design seems to belong to Utah. Which is alien to these colors and which has turned a potentially unforgettable form into a temporary one. Imagine a similar uniform for the Celtics or Knicks. Doesn't fit, right?
Wrong team's amazing kit.
Photo: Gettyimages.ru/Gene Sweeney Jr., Kevin C. Cox, Rob Foldy
Basketball's first steps. How Alekseevians learned the basics of the American ball game
Looking at the photos from the family album, my gaze lingered on one of the pictures. It depicts the Stroitel basketball team, which in the mid- of the 1980s was practically the Alekseevka team.
Looking at the faces of the players, I remembered my youth and my first steps in basketball. This game immediately captured me, and interest in it has not subsided so far! It all started at 1965 , at the Alekseevskaya eight-year school No. 5. It was there that I first picked up a basketball, not yet knowing all the rules of a new game for me. Before that, my friends and I played football, hockey, chess, bast shoes, ran cross-country, jumped long and high, went skiing. But little has been heard about basketball. This sport was not cultivated in schools. Gyms were "adapted" and often located in basements. There were no basketball backboards at all, and hoops hung only here and there. In addition, they were attached at an arbitrary height, and not at a standard one ( 3.05 m from the site).
School No. 5 compares favorably with others. Built in 1959 , a typical three-story building was built for secondary school No. 1, in 1963 received the status of an eight-year school, and then - school No.
5. It stood out from the rest. Of course, the main attraction for us was the gym. In the early of the 1960s, was the largest closed area in Alekseevka. And we boys, like a magnet, were drawn there after school. Even on Sunday, when the school was closed, we came and tearfully asked to be allowed into the hall.
The first basketball games can be called "lessons of courage": they played almost without rules, running after the ball in a crowd. If someone received the ball, they immediately forgot about the existence of partners on the court and rushed headlong towards the coveted ring. This game was more like rugby. But any work bears fruit. Gradually, we began to understand the essence of the game, the first notes of team interaction began to appear. To strengthen our skills, we were constantly looking for sparring partners from other schools.
Photo: Yury Afanasyev's family archive
But the real test for our team was the first trip to regional basketball competitions.
It was then that we saw a spacious hall, plastic backboards, players' equipment, and the basketballs themselves were not like ours. However, most of all we were struck by the game of the Belgorod guys. Later we tried to copy it when preparing for other tournaments. And this has borne fruit.
Over time, our team played without jitters at the large Belgorod venues: Dynamo and Burevestnik, had its own uniform and new balls. Most importantly, we gained tactical knowledge. But each time at the regional competitions, they discovered something new. The people of Belgorod never ceased to amaze us. Coached George Sahakyan ( trained 19 Masters of Sports ) she showed amazing basketball. He, like a commander, led his team forward, took timeouts on time, during which we could easily change the entire starting five. They always had wonderful "snipers", and even then the centers scored the ball into the ring from above. It was amazing!
The Belgorod coach immediately appreciated the game of our team and gave fatherly advice.
But at the regional tournaments, we also had our own mentor - Ivan Lomakin . A front-line soldier, a person with a subtle sense of humor, who understands the guys well. Ivan Sergeevich also learned the basics of basketball. He taught me how not to jog, avoid double dribbles, get out of the three-second zone on time, and run into a gap. Training, competitions, team building - all this was included in our basketball textbook. The first awards and prizes appeared. All of them found a place in the school museum.
Much has changed already in 1968 in connection with the commissioning of a new building of secondary school No. 1 on the street. F. Engels (now - Craftsmen). Here was the largest gym with standard dimensions. And on January 1974 for the first time regional basketball competitions among rural areas of the Belgorod region were held here. These matches were served by eminent referees from the regional center, as well as a young teacher Alexander Chirkov and I, who was then the Komsomol organizer of the school.
Basketball has conquered many. It began to be introduced into school programs in physical education, to develop in secondary specialized institutions. Sections were opened, teams appeared, tournaments were held at the local level.
Historically, the strongest basketball teams were in city schools No. 1, 3 and 6, as well as in SPTU-24 (now an agricultural technical school) and an agricultural college (now Alekseevsky College). The guys from there formed the backbone of the city's team at regional competitions in Belgorod and Stary Oskol and often made a "rustle" there.
They began to play basketball not only in the halls, but also at the stadium, where an open area appeared. In August 1987 , it was there that a meeting took place between the Alekseevsky "Builder" and the construction detachments from Moscow (students who helped build the foundation of the Palace of Culture in Alekseevka). This match can be called international, because among the visitors, the guys from Cuba stood out with their game, who basically helped the guests win.
