Opinion BY Armin

It’s Okay to be the King

Currently the closest — and by closest I mean pretty not very close but it will do — thing the NBA has to a Michael Jordan-level global superstar is LeBron James of the Miami Heat, formerly of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He can dunk, he can block, he can pass, he can piss off an entire audience through megalomaniac ESPN specials, and, perhaps he can win a championship. But not yet. In the meantime, the only crowning he’ll have is by his own “King James” nickname, which serves as the basis for the logo of his Nike line of shoes and apparel. Designed by Nike Brand Design, the logo officially debuted this past October although it was leaked as far back as November 2010.

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A B-Side BY Armin

ESPN College Basketball

Airing on ESPN, in one form or another, since its introduction in 1979, ESPN College Basketball is exactly what the name implies, growing ever more comprehensive and ambitious over the years. Troika, who also redesigned ESPN College Football, have designed a new logo and on-air package for ESPN around the them of Mayhem. Detail view of the logo and animation package below (or after the jump). A little more story here.

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Opinion BY Armin

Wizards go Retro, Dodge Bullet

Known as the Washington Wizards since 1997, this Eastern Conference NBA team goes back to 1961 when it was known as the Chicago Packers, moving to Baltimore in 1963 and changing its name to the Bullets (I guess they never saw The Wire coming), then moving to Washington in 1974. As the Bullets the team won the championship in 1978 and as the Wizards they are best known for hosting Michael Jordan’s twenty-third un-retirement. Yesterday, the Wizards unveiled new uniforms and secondary logos that hark back to their look of decades past. The uniforms and marks have been designed in collaboration with their apparel provider, adidas.

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Opinion BY Christian Palino

Not so Golden State Warriors

This is one of those occasions where — and let me show my cards early here — the rebranding effort is so poor it is hard to know where to begin. For those that may not follow the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Golden State Warriors have been in California, and more specifically in the Bay area, since moving out here in 1962 from Philadelphia. They were first based out of San Francisco and then moved to Oakland after nine seasons, where they have since resided. The current redesign marks the first rebranding effort by the team since 1997. Apparently, the sale of Warriors merchandise as part of the NBA marketing initiative Hardwood Classics was so popular that the Warriors franchise could not overlook the opportunity to try and recreate some of the magic nostalgia that was selling so well.

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