The Utah Jazz have unveiled updated logos and uniforms in advance of the 2016 - 2017 season.
The new logos and uniforms are more of a tweak than a wholesale change. The Jazz have eliminated all references to the old mountain logo, and have returned to using the logo that simply spells out the name Jazz with an eighth note being used for the letter J.
“I think there are two things I like about these changes,” Paul Lukas says.
He writes a column about uniforms for ESPN.com.
“First of all, I think the changes are mostly good. And secondly, I think they are mostly minor and incremental," he says. "And in an era when so many teams tend to be doing really flashy, very over the top redesigns, it’s kind of refreshing to see a team that’s making smaller, more incremental changes.”
While the home white and navy road uniforms are pretty similar to last year, the Jazz also unveiled a new pride jersey. It has sleeves and large white, gold, and green horizontal stripes going across the middle of the chest.
Frank Zang is the senior vice president of communications for the Jazz. He says the pride jersey is meant to celebrate the tradition and history of the team.
“The thick band of stripes is reminiscent of the classic warmups and uniforms that were worn by Karl Malone and John Stockton,” he says.
While Zang says they’ve had a great response from fans, there are some people who think the pride jersey looks too much like something a soccer player would wear. Paul Lukas says he thinks that’s mostly because it has sleeves, which the NBA requires for pride jerseys.
“I have to say, I really like the basic design of the jersey, but it would be so much better if it didn’t have sleeves.”
Along with new logos and jerseys, the Jazz also unveiled a new simplified court design.