Black Mamba in a black uniform? With Kobe now cleared for basketball activities and practicing with the team, could his return day coincide with the Lakers' new black "Hollywood Nights" Jerseys? The black uniforms, which Mamba models above, will be worn 6 times this year-- all of them at home, but curiously the first date will be an away game.
Kobe loves to play in NYC, and the jerseys are clearly designed to part Lakers fans with their money, and what better way to sell them to the public then at Kobe's first game back with the team?
Here's what the homies at Uni Watch had to say about "Hollywood Nights":
Uni Watch 101: It’s stupid. It’s lame. Black isn’t one of the Lakers’ colors. Black uniforms are soooo 1997. Why not give the Celtics a black uni while you’re at it. Good thing they don’t have Shaq anymore. No wonder Dwight Howard left. At least it doesn’t have sleeves. Imagine Kareem in that thing. Jerry West is rolling over in his grave. Oh right, Jerry West isn’t dead yet, but he would be if he’d known about this. [Some sentence invoking the words "abomination" and/or "monstrosity."] And so on.
All of that is true. But here’s something else that’s true: It’s not a bad-looking design. It’s still the wrong design for this team, of course, and it’s obviously a cynical ploy. But in strictly aesthetic terms, I think it works pretty well. I’m not defending it or advocating for it, mind you — just saying that it’s not bad when viewed in a vacuum.