Orlando Magic New Uniforms Narrowly Miss Mark

The Orlando Magic unveiled a brand new brand and uniforms with the tagline, “a brand new technology of Magic Basketball.” The look is supposed to be a nod to the previous and probably the most memorable period of the franchise’s historical past, however didn’t fairly get there. 

It’s inconceivable to say the design solely missed the mark. The Magic specified that it’s bringing again the “star” as a centerpiece, that includes it because the “a” on all three of the brand new uniforms. Until you’re predisposed to hating the brand new brand and uniform look on sight, nobody can say it’s grotesque. In 2025, the place there’s a whole lot of ugly going round, that’s a win. 

To get all glowing compliments out of the way in which, the worldwide brand and first icons are particularly good.

Now, let’s nitpick. 

The Magic’s jersey redesign ought to’ve stored it easy and gone full throwback. The unique Orlando look stays iconic and will’ve returned as is or with some slight tweaks. 

To be particular, we’re speaking font. As a result of Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway and Tracy McGrady rank among the many biggest gamers within the crew’s historical past, you possibly can shut your eyes and see the Magic lettering I’m referring to in your head. It shouldn’t should be defined to you, but it surely’s that jagged-edged look that appeared to have been created by a well-intentioned third-grader who did a incredible job with the duty. Scott Skiles dished out an NBA-record 30 assists with this lettering throughout his chest. The place is it? Why isn’t it again? Why will not we see new star Paolo Banchero create new reminiscences in a throwback?

The brand new model is generic compared, encompassed by block lettering that makes the star mix in versus being the centerpiece it was meant to be. Of the three seems to be, the white “Affiliation” pinstriped model is by far probably the most engaging, and a most important purpose is as a result of the star stands out largest in shiny silver amidst the M-G-I-C in blue.

The blue “Icon” model some would determine because the street package in a previous life the place venues dictated the uniforms groups would put on as an alternative of being arbitrarily chosen, is second-best. 

The white pinstripes on the crew’s electrical “Magic blue” provides an aesthetically-pleasing distinction, however the “Orlando” seems to be too small. Certain, there are eight letters to cram within the uniform when working within the metropolis versus the 5 within the crew identify, however having the “a” star not be considerably bigger was a significant miss.

The “Assertion” jerseys, your alternate variations that each crew has as a way to promote extra merchandise, are predominantly black. These are extra much like the Magic’s authentic street uniforms, however perhaps that’s why having the strong electrical blue atop the crew identify with no pinstripes seems to be so off. The design is meant to play off the crew’s authentic on-court warm-up jackets, but it surely all looks like components pulling in numerous instructions, making a chaotic, non-pleasing end result.

Lastly, not being talked about in any respect is the Magic’s new secondary brand, which too carefully resembles an All-Star brand or the Phoenix Suns’ design. It could’ve been good to see the old-school “O” and “M” determine prominently right here since they have been discarded, however as an alternative, we bought a generic-looking secondary brand that nobody can declare to love except you’re a PHX fan.

Orlando Magic followers have been ready over a decade for a brand new look, so it’s proper to count on perfection whereas additionally understanding this might’ve been a lot worse. Nevertheless, because the authentic design was so well-received and nostalgia performed such a big position on this redesign, it looks like a missed alternative to not have gone full throwback.

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