The pinstripes are back.
The Charlotte Hornets unveiled new association and icon uniforms on Monday, with pinstripes now being a part of the team's primary uniforms for the first time since the Hornets' original tenure in Charlotte from 1988-2002.
They also revealed a new primary home court design. (See below)
When the Hornets name was brought back to Charlotte in 2014, the team no longer used pinstripes except for on its classic uniforms. This is the first full uniform re-design since then.
The new association uniforms are white with teal numbers and a "Charlotte" wordmark on the front, outlined in purple. The top of the jersey has teal double-lined pinstripes.
The icon uniforms are teal with white numbers and a "Hornets" word mark along with white double-lined pinstripes. The wording is all outlined in purple.
Unlike the classic pinstripes that had green, blue, purple and teal pinstripes, each of the two uniforms will have one solid pinstripe color throughout.
On the association version, the shorts will have an "H-Cell" buckle decoration and a "C-Cell" will be on the icon shorts.
Hornets Sports and Entertainment senior vice president of consumer engagement, Seth Bennett, said the new uniforms bring a "bold, yet symbolic and unified look that speaks for the future" of the team.
“We saw an opportunity to take another step forward and really get closer to that original Hornet uniform and its classy, iconic state,” he said. “It was great to have the version we’ve worn for that five-year period, but we can take another step in reconnecting a little closer to some of the design elements we enjoyed in the original uniforms.”
Logos of Nike’s Jordan Brand will be on the right chest and partner LendingTree on the left chest.
Charlotte has had solid white home and purple road uniforms since the name change and NBA teams have a five-year minimum before they are allowed to change their primary uniforms.
The new Association and Icon Editions were designed in a collaboration between the Hornets, RARE Design, Jordan Brand and the NBA’s Global Merchandising Group.
The jerseys are expected to be available at retail on October 1.
The association and icon uniforms will be two of four uniform sets that will also include a "statement" and "city" edition uniform.
In addition to the uniforms, the Hornets revealed a new primary court design for the first time since 2014.
Here are a few highlights of what has changed on the court:
· The court now features the partial primary logo at center court, replacing the primary logo
· The cell pattern stained in the wood only appears outside the three-point lines
· A purple version of the secondary “Silhouette” logo replaces the “Buzz City” logo inside the three-point lines
· A new tonal cell pattern appears in white on the teal apron and in the free-throw lanes, which are also now teal
·The baseline near the home bench says “Charlotte” and the baseline near the visiting bench says “Hornets,” rather than both baselines saying “Charlotte Hornets”
·The apron says “Buzz City” at center court, replacing the “Crown C” logo
·A pair of Spectrum Center logos continue to live outside the three-point lines
·The Novant Health logo will continue to appear on the apron in front of each bench