When the Warriors unveiled their new “Oakland Forever” jerseys for the 2020-21 NBA season, many felt they had missed the mark. One of those detractors was prominent local artist Dustin Canalin, the mind behind Golden State’s previous “City Edition” alternates.
Canalin, who grew up hooping with future big-league stars Jimmy Rollins and Dontrelle Willis in his native Oakland, partnered with Nike in creating the Warriors’ wildly-popular “The Town” concept, abandoning the team’s familiar bridge imagery in favor of a more Oakland-centric design. “The Town” uniforms, featuring the city’s longstanding oak tree emblem, were an immediate best-seller upon debuting in 2017, earning praise from two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant and other Bay Area icons like rapper Too $hort.
“If you didn’t grow up in Oakland, you might not realize the dynamic of the Bay Bridge,” Canalin told Alan Chazaro of the San Francisco Chronicle. “That bridge felt like it kept us apart, even though The City was only 10 minutes away. It was an unknown and it represented something different than Oakland and the East Bay. It was separate. To this day, my dad still doesn’t cross that bridge.”
Before Golden State became a dynasty with Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, all future Hall-of-Famers, the Warriors had long been portrayed as an underdog, much like the city they played in. Success came at a price with Golden State quickly shedding its everyman label, a transformation that culminated in the Warriors relocating to San Francisco. After leaving the city that supported them through so many lean years, Canalin found the Warriors’ new “Oakland Forever” conceit to be an empty gesture.
Golden State reveals their new “Oakland Forever" City Edition jerseys 👀
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) November 2, 2020
(via @warriors) pic.twitter.com/phXdgTYhiu
“It’s forced. They don’t play in Oakland anymore. They left,” Canalin vented. “It feels like a grab for leftover emotional baggage. It’s like a guilt jersey.”
Though Canalin admittedly appreciates the “aesthetics” of Golden State’s new threads, the team’s gimmicky rebrand is still hard for him to process. To Canalin, evoking false nostalgia by suddenly embracing the city it turned its back on comes off as patronizing, bordering on disingenuous. “When I originally designed these jerseys, I was thinking about the people up in the nosebleeds, not the people in the front row,” said Canalin. “I picked a font and logo that I knew that they would especially be able to get excited about, even from the worst seats in the house.”
While “The Town” paid homage to Oakland’s blue-collar roots, “Oakland Forever” feels like a hollow, polyester apology to a city that deserved better.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM Sports
Twitter | Facebook I Instagram
