The fans have spoken, and their voice was loud and clear. The black road jerseys worn by the Sacramento Kings from 1994 to 2002 were the greatest of all time.
It’s rather fitting, right? The Kings played their best basketball in these unis. In 2001-02 the black beauties were on display during the franchise’s only 60-win season. They had the best record in the league and took the Los Angeles Lakers to seven games in the Western Conference Finals.
They probably should have been the first Kings jerseys to appear in the NBA Finals, but that’s a conversation for another time.
The jerseys are majestic in their simplicity. They’re unique, but not over-worked. They’re bold, but not jarring. They’re universally loved.
Other color schemes had the fans divided. Some wanted all purple, all the time. There was also a strong royal blue proponent, and perhaps an even larger camp in favor of the baby blue.
That last group also fawned over a new jersey concept posted by graphic designer “SRELIX” on Instagram a few days ago.
Personally, this is the type of look I’d like to see the Kings adopt going forward. The cursive logo has always been my favorite, even over the medieval font used from ‘94 to ‘02. And while I am fully on board for the return of the black jersey, I think it could be the alternate for the color scheme presented above.
Nostalgia plays a special role in sports, and jersey design has the ability to bring the past into the present. If there is any chapter of the past that Kings fans want to revisit, it’s the dominance displayed by their squad in the early 2000’s. So here’s hoping we see some version of the classic all-blacks in the Golden 1 Center soon.
