Taking over as the official uniform supplier of the NBA this season, Nike has brought a slew of new designs and technologically advanced gear to the league. But now that Nike is the league’s official sponsor, the Boston Celtics reportedly don’t have the freedom to choose which uniforms they can wear on game days.
According to Celtics travel and equipment coordinator John Connor, Nike also tells Boston what color tights players can wear with their uniforms.
From the Boston Herald‘s Steve Bulpett:
“The league gives us a master schedule,” said Celtics travel and equipment coordinator John Connor. “We put it on the wall and we just give out what’s on the wall. We get the schedule and what we’re supposed to wear from the league, and it’s for the whole year.
“It used to be Paul Pierce saying, ‘Hey, let’s wear the green/black ones.’ Not anymore. The players can’t control it.”
…
“They changed the tight colors, too,” said Connor. “Nike will call out, like, they want green tights with the green uniforms or white tights with green uniforms, black tights on white. They actually script for like 50 percent of the games what everything has to be. It’s a lot more restrictive.”
It is unclear if Nike plans out the look for all teams or just for the Celtics but either way, the NBA’s on-court fashion is clearly being meticulously planned out by the Swoosh for the foreseeable future.
