In part one and two, nine of the 22 Cleveland uniforms from the past decade were ranked. Now five more Cavalier jerseys from the past decade will be ranked. At this point, most of the uniforms appearing on the list are appealing uniforms. Instead of alternates, some of Cleveland’s traditional home and road uniforms appear in part three.
13. 2016 Christmas Day
Before Nike took over NBA uniforms in late 2017, Adidas gave NBA teams Christmas jerseys. It has become an NBA tradition for NBA games to occur on Christmas day every year. Most of the time, only the NBA’s best teams typically play on Christmas. From 2014-16, NBA teams playing on Christmas day received Christmas day alternates.
Cleveland’s 2016 Christmas day uniform comes in at 13. Unlike past Christmas uniforms, this jersey actually looked somewhat inspired by the holiday. This uniform was very similar to Cleveland’s road jersey at the time. The 2016 Christmas uniform was mostly wine with accents of gold. In a cursive font, Cleveland’s team name was placed on the chest. Further, a wax letter seal design with the NBA’s logo was placed on the back neck of the jersey. Between the wax seal and cursive font, the uniform had a old timey holiday feel. Overall, the 2016 Christmas uniform slightly altered Cleveland’s road uniforms by adding neat Christmas details.
12. 2010-17 Road
At 12 is the Cavaliers’ road uniform from 2010 to 2017. The uniform is predominantly wine with hints of gold. During 2010-17, Adidas gave Cleveland a simple but clean uniform set. Simply put, there is really nothing wrong with this uniform at all. Maybe some details could have been added to make the uniform a bit more interesting. On the other hand, sometimes simple is good when it comes to uniforms.
11. 2015-16 Hardwood Classics
Hardwood classics uniforms have appeared consistently in the NBA for nearly 15 years. These uniforms are essentially throwback or retro uniforms. During the 1970s, the Cavalier franchise had wine and gold uniforms with wine, gold and white stripes on the side of the uniform. Cleveland’s 2015-16 hardwood classics uniform pretty much replicated the 1970s uniform to a tee. The 2015-16 throwback jersey made the stripes slightly thinner, but outside of that they are almost exact copies. These retro uniforms were a nice salute to the start of Cleveland’s franchise when players like Walt Frazier and Austin Carr starred in Cleveland.
10. 2010-17 Home
Coming in at 10 is another uniform apart of Cleveland’s set from 2010 to 2017. This time it is the Cavaliers’ home uniform. The uniform is all white with wine numbers and font. Wine and gold accents simply looks good on all white uniforms. Similar to their away 2010-17 uniforms, these uniforms also kept it very simple. Once again, the uniform could have been improved with added details.
9. 2017-Present Association
In today’s NBA, the usual home and away uniforms are no more. When Nike gained the NBA’s uniform rights in the 2017-18 season, they gave each team three uniforms. These three uniforms are known as the association, icon and statement uniforms. Each game, the home team selects which uniform they will wear and then the away team selects their jersey afterwards.
At nine is Cleveland’s current association uniform. This jersey rivals the Cavs’ 2010-17 home uniform. The association uniform basically takes the past home uniform and adds details. The main difference between the two is the current all white uniform outlines the number and font in gold. This makes the font and number pop more and becomes more appealing. Also, the Cavs font and number is more unique and is not a plain font. When Cleveland made a uniform change in the 2017-18 season, they added a new alternate logo and changed their uniform font. The uniform’s sharp font is supposed to represent a Cavaliers’ sword, armor and shield. Cleveland’s current white uniform takes their past home uniform and improves upon it.
We are now reaching some of Cleveland’s best uniforms over the last 10 years. In part four, uniforms ranked eight to five will be discussed. Be sure to check out the rest of the series!
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