Episode 22. The Utah Jazz Killed Black Uniforms?
Commissioner Stern Instituted a 14-year Ban Against Any New Black Uniforms.
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!
Episode 22 of the Sports Branding Substack takes us back to the 1998 NBA basketball season, when the Utah Jazz unknowingly “killed” the option for teams to rebrand to black as their primary or alternate uniform color. What started as a “short time out” to slow down the addition of more black uniforms — ultimately and almost unbelievably turned into a 14-year “full stop” on any new black uniform designs.
Of all the things you’d expect the NBA to crack down on in the late ’90s — rough play, trash talking, even baggy jerseys and shorts, who would’ve guessed the line in the sand would be teams wearing black uniforms?
Yes, you’re reading that correctly, from the beginning of the 1998-99 season and ending with the start of the 2012-13 season, the NBA put an unwritten rule in place, we did those kinds of things… often called “DAVID SAID’S”. Please read on to learn how the League came to disallowing the color black as primary or alternate uniform color. A crisis of color, if you will…
For the 2012-13 season, the Brooklyn Nets, who were relocating from New Jersey to the borough successfully petitioned the NBA to “allow” the use of black as their dominant color after a 14-year unwritten ban! Again, can’t make this stuff up!
It was so contentious, Commissioner Stern (the DAVID SAID guy) put it up to a vote by the NBA Board of Governors who approved the mandate to end the 14-year ban of using the black as an approved NBA uniform color. Please enjoy this unusual story.
Episode 22 is one of those behind the scenes “how did this happen” stories that grew out of a simple comment during an all-hands on deck NBA Department Head meeting which went from an annoyance of then NBA Deputy Commissioner, Russ Granik, to quickly escalating in a classic Commissioner Stern rant and immediately became adopted as for inclusion into the NBA Operations Manual. However, the rule was never actually put into “writing” ensuring it would not call attention to ridiculousness of it all. I mean David J. Stern’s name was on the ball after all. His ball. His rules.
Imagine the backlash today if this “rule” leaked onto social media? It would be “end of the world” type stuff X.com trollers LIVE and DIE for.
As we like to do on the Sports Branding Substack, before we reveal what triggered such an unusual decision, we’d like to take a step back to learn why the color black has become such an appealing fawned over color in sports branding and outfitting.
Culture. Expansion. Technology. A Perfect Storm .
The 1990s weren’t just another decade in professional sports — they were a branding explosion. The “perfect storm” of instances collided to reshape uniforms, logos, and team merchandise in ways the industry had never seen or could imagine. Urban pop culture was embracing team gear as everyday fashion. 15 new expansion teams entered the market in just 10 years, each demanding fresh identities and merch lines.
Licensed product sales were exploding, feeding a ravenous appetite for more, more, more NBA Stuff (it even had its’ own logo). At the same time, new creative tools like Adobe’s design software and cutting-edge uniform production methods — from dye sublimation to lighter, more flexible and breathable fabrics — unlocked creative possibilities that simply didn’t exist just a decade earlier.
Into this mix entered the color black. It wasn’t just a design choice — it was a cultural signal. Black uniforms looked tougher, sleeker, and carried crossover appeal from hip-hop to streetwear… “badassery”!
Once sports brands tapped into black as an identity color of rebellion, it transformed the licensed product industry overnight, blurring the line between what fans wore in the stands and what they wore on the streets. Consumers were not even fans of the team began buying “stuff’ because it looked cool, which significantly broaden the appeal of pro sports merchandise offerings.
The black as a “brand” revolution was due to a series of apocalyptic events:
Urban streetwear culture and team branded adoption.
Addition of 15 expansion teams in just 10 years.
Team licensed product offerings in apparel and hard goods.
Rapidly advancing technology (Adobe software programs).
Dye sublimation + new lighter more comfortable materials.
15 Expansion Teams Added in a Single Decade.
Real Men Wear Black. The Beginning.
When the NFL Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in the early 1980s, their stark silver-and-black branding and rebel image resonated with West Coast street culture which quickly bled into the rapidly expanding hip-hop and rap music scene.
Raider Starter satin jackets quickly became a symbol of toughness, adopted by an estimated 50,000 gang members—and later was seen as far east as New York City. The RAIDERS crest took on a cultural position as a badass brand identity.
As their merchandise surged in popularity—the Raiders accounted for 18% of NFL sales by 1990— this catalyzed a broader shift in sports apparel toward black-themed merchandise for urban style relevance.
The Great One. A Silver + Black LA Fashion Takeover.
The Los Angeles Kings made a significant shift in their visual identity in 1988—transitioning from their longstanding purple and gold (inspired by the Lakers) to a sleek silver and black palette, evoking the Los Angeles Raiders’ iconic look. This makeover coincided perfectly with the blockbuster acquisition of Wayne Gretzky— from the Edmonton Oilers — ushering in a bold new era both on and off the ice.
LA Kings and NHL merchandise sales exploded following the change. As reported by newspapers at the time, LA Kings jackets alone outsold those from the entire previous decade within just one year. BLACK and SILVER team branding was RED hot!!!
Chicago White Sox Black Caps Making a Statement.
In 1990, the Chicago White Sox unveiled a complete rebrand: black caps with the now-iconic interlocking diagonal “SOX” gothic logo in white. This was a bold pivot away from their red/navy look — directly in line with the broader “black for intimidation and style” trend the Raiders pioneered with other teams getting in line for the look.
Black was seen as tougher, sleeker, and more fashion-forward, appealing not just to fans but to the urban streetwear fashion movement that was exploding at the time.
Dr. Dre and N.W.A. were the true innovators and motivated America to buy their own White Sox cap. At the end of 1990, the Chicago White Sox were 18th in product sales out of the then 26 teams in MLB. By August 1991, the White Sox were third, only behind the New Yankees and Oakland A’s.
Welcome to the NBA. Day One.
June 1st, 1990 - My first day working at the National Basketball Association. That May Commissioner David Stern recruited me as the first-ever NBA Creative Director with the mission of establishing the league’s in-house creative agency, NBA Creative Services (a design group to rival growing NFL, MLB and NHL in-house divisions). It seems obvious today — but looking back over 35 years ago, it was a groundbreaking move for sports branding and was a defining moment on how professional sports would look into the near and far future. Sports branding as an industry had arrived.
I quickly assembled a diverse team of talented graphic designers to bring a corporate-level design approach to the league and individual franchises—a shift from the previous local team ad agency model.
In 1991, Commissioner Stern requested we begin working with teams whose current team branding was need of updating. For teams who would apply for a rebrand, NBA Creative Services would provide a thorough design exploration at NO charge to the teams to incentivize changes and keep up with brand changes happening in the other three leagues.
When I joined the NBA, I had no real experience designing team logos, uniforms or court designs, the good news… neither did anybody else.
Typically, team logos were designed in their local markets often by their ad agency. Uniforms, more time than not were overseen by the team outfitter, which in the 1980’s was Medalist Sand-Knit and then Champion who took over the exclusive license from 1989-1997 and partnered with the NBA Creative Services group on rebrands. They were a great partner and always went above and beyond on team branding projects.
In the early 1990s, a revolution was taking place in sports branding. For decades, the uniform formula was simple: teams wore white at home and color on the road, with only rare exceptions like the Lakers’ iconic gold.
Beginning in 1994, NBA alternate uniforms, especially black versions were being added at a rapid pace. In 1998, the Utah Jazz jumped in on the trend and added an alternate black uniform, which was introduced under the radar screen as a new option, especially when compared to the popular purple mountain primary uniforms.
1992-93 - (4 teams) Four NBA teams featured black color uniforms: Miami Heat / Orlando Magic / Portland Trail Blazers / San Antonio Spurs.
2000-2001 (15 teams) - The NBA uniform “quilt” expands to 15 teams: Atlanta Hawks / Chicago Bulls (w, w/o pinstripes) / Cleveland Cavaliers / Miami Heat / Minnesota Timberwolves / Orlando Magic / Phoenix Suns / Philadelphia 76ers / Portland Trail Blazers / Sacramento Kings / Utah Jazz / Vancouver Grizzlies.
BFBS. Black For Black Sake.
By the end of the 1990s, not only the NBA, but all four pro leagues jumped on the black alternate uniform bandwagon. What began with the Raiders’ mantra—“Real Men Wear Black” had exploded into a sports merchandising “cash grab” across all the leagues and there was no end in sight… well… actually… there was… in the NBA.
Quietest Man in the Room Makes the Most Noise.
Okay, we finally get to the “behind-the-scenes” story on why a black color NBA uniform moratorium was established in 1998 — and why it lasted for 14 years.
The NBA League Offices were experiencing enormous growth tied to the explosion of the sport in the 1990’s and I was fortunate to be there for the early growth stage.
When I joined the NBA in 1990, I was the 158th employee, (which at the time seemed like a large company. However, by 1998, the League had expanded to over 1,200 employees globally. A staggering growth period.
Because the League had grown so large, so fast, Commissioner Stern enacted regular bi-weekly NBA Department Head Meetings in midtown Manhattan. The meetings would be the opportunity to go around the room, share key information with one another and allow open lines of communication with the other 40 or so supervisors. Think before ZOOM calls. It often was a corporate “shitshow” but it was the NBA… AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!
It often was what we called “Stern Theater”. David was a very driven and brilliant executive who liked to “stir the pot” to keep us on our toes. We debated many topics, both on and off the court — issues of the time — and the 90’s were certainly an explosive time for pro sports, and for social causes — especially for the NBA.
While Commissioner Stern was always the aggressive and boisterous leader in those meetings, his alter ego was Deputy Commissioner, Russ Granik, was a quiet but brilliant lawyer who played off Stern perfectly. Russ was basically provided the guardrails for David who would do follow-up on matters after David was done with his process chainsaw. LOL.
My primary role in those meetings was presenting team branding updates, league design projects and branding reviews for the NBA All-Star Weekend and NBA Postseason “jewel” events as well as co-present with the NBA Sponsorship Group on pitches they were proposing to bring in additional revenue.
Where’s the Black in the Utah Jazz Logo.
In the 1998-99 NBA Department Head season tip-off meeting, I presented all the new uniforms for that season to the attending supervisors including the new Pacers gold pinstripe alternates, Timberwolves and Nets new black and gray alternates, and the Magic who updated their pin-striped uniforms with the subtle stars rebrand as well as the Kings who added new purple alternate uniforms. There was a lot of positive comments about all the new identities, which was gratifying for my creative team.
Then… I Got to the New Jazz Black Alternate Uniforms.
Proudly, I showed off the new Utah Jazz black alternate designs and I was really rolling… and there were no comments… (pregnant pause 2-3-4 )… wait, except for Russ Granik, who was typically very quiet at the meetings, especially about branding.
-Russ stood up and asked me in his mannered way (I’m paraphrasing here):
“Tom, good work overall… a question, how did we come up with a black uniform for the Jazz…? I don’t see any black in their logo and yet they have a black uniform… how is that?…”
-It threw me off because I assumed he had seen the Jazz mock-up designs at some point through our NBA Licensing Group, who typically ran these designs through Russ for legal clearance.
-I politely replied:
“Russ, the team submitted and been granted approval to move forward with an alternate design in black, which their VP of Marketing, Jay Francis, requested we develop for the Jazz…”
-That answer went over the proverbial lead balloon. THUD! I believe it was the first time I had seen Russ annoyed or him slightly raising his voice in the eight years I’d known and worked with him.
-Russ responded back:
“Well. I think we know our overall league branding strategy better than teams do — and we need to revisit how we work with teams so we can fully dictate what we provide them to ensure we’re not creating new designs to simply appease the teams…”
-Gulp, burn… but to Russ’ credit he was probably right and when he spoke the room listened as he was highly respected.
Then, as often happened with Commissioner Stern, David became the third man in the debate (or the fight, like in hockey) and uh-oh I was in trouble… once Mt. Stern starts exploding… ALL BETS ARE OFF!
-Stern stands up and walks over to a TV (remember it’s 1998) and asks to get help turning on ESPN. Mind you, this is in front of 40 plus Departments Heads who have a lot of other daily responsibilities— and the clock is ticking. He gets to the ESPN replay of last evenings NBA highlights and BOOM! begins a classic rant about how he can’t make out who’s playing who from a distance on the screen.
-Stern in his classic slowing raising voice level:
“Russ, God dammit… you know this has been bothering me for a while. When I’m home watching that night’s highlights… more and more I can’t make out who’s playing who… it’s the fucking team in the white uniforms versus the team in the black uniforms… it’s terrible…”
-Gulp (Pt. 2) Stern turns to Bill Marshall, the Senior Vice-President of NBA Global Licensing (and a marketing genius who left us too soon) and quizzes him on if the League put a hold on allowing any new black uniforms, would that significantly hurt NBA Authentic and Replica sales?
-Bill Marshall on possible lost revenue from canceling further black uniforms:
“David, not sure it would drastically hurt our sales numbers since we have a lot of primary and alternate black uniforms (15 at the time). And at retail — our NBA jersey walls are quickly filling up with a lot of black jerseys… which might be cannibalizing some sales.”
-Stern, right back at Marshall, Granik and I:
“Okay, O’Grady if you have any more black uniforms in the design pipeline, put a hold on them… and let us know who the teams are… and Russ and I will get on a call and explain the issue to the teams and our concern with the over-saturation of black uniforms…”
And just like that, the NBA placed a ban on the design of any new black team uniforms. FYI, both the Bulls and the Heat black alts were already deep into production overseas — so those two uniforms survived the cut.
What’s amazing to me even almost 25 years later was how long this edict lasted… 14 years… it seems incredible with all the black for black sake uniforms so common now.
Russ Granik left the NBA in 2008. Not sure anyone ever told him but the purple 1996-97 Utah Jazz logo did have black in the design (albeit a drop shadow). So that’s where the black came from? No worse design critics than high-paid NBA attorneys. LOL.
And legendary NBA Commissioner David Stern, who officially retired in 2014 finally canceled the black uniform ban in 2012 (thanks to the NBA Board of Governors), when the New Jersey Nets moved to Brooklyn and introduced black uniforms. Rapper Jay Z, who at the time had a small ownership percentage of the team, had a big hand in the design of the black and white BKLYN branding.
Over time, maybe Stern should have kept the black branding ban in place a few years longer, as the Nets black and white identity quickly became an underwhelming look after the initial excitement of having pro sports team back in Brooklyn.
Even today, the team struggles to generate brand excitement with their urban DFDS (Dark For Dark Sake) branding. Such a wonderfully colorful borough with such a drab brand identity. We’ll feature a full Sports Branding Substack on the “Nyets” branding.
In conclusion, the idea of shutting down a color choice option is one of my favorite NBA “this really did happen” stories of all time — as well as one of the most humorous design decisions EVER. Hope you enjoyed the story and let us know if you would like more “this really did happen” Sports Branding Substack stories. Seems like subscribers like having a “seat at the table” perspective from our many experiences in the sports branding industry. Thanks as always.
-The End.
Great insight!
So good Tom. 👏👏