The Orlando Magic Are Bringing Back a Modern Classic NBA Jersey

 You’d be forgiven for not thinking too much about the Orlando Magic recently. The doormat franchise has not won a playoff series since 2010, and has finished with a losing record in each of the last four seasons. Their most memorable moment of the last ten years was probably Aaron Gordon’s performance in the 2016 dunk contest. Gordon is wearing a different uniform now—and, to twist the knife even further, is a recently-crowned champion with the Nuggets—but we can assume he probably took notice of some recent news from his former employer.

Last week, the Magic announced that they’d be dusting off the starry blue uniforms they rocked from 1998-2003—a welcome sight for the nostalgia lovers, but also for those of us who just appreciate sick cheap nba jerseys. While 98-03 wasn’t exactly the golden era for the Magic, it was a good one, and its association with the incomparable Tracy McGrady can help fans forget how miserable things have been for this team as of late. The uniform is, in official NBA terms, the Magic’s Classic Edition for the upcoming season. The team’s social post that made it all official is bound to trigger your most vibrant Y2K memories. Put on your favorite Bow Wow video, pour up some Zima, and enjoy.

While the star iconography is doing most of the heavy lifting here—both in the Magic wordmark on the chest and in the background—another piece of Orlando’s aesthetic heritage makes an appearance. There’s a swath of pinstripes up and down the sides of this uniform—which was part of the OG star uniform, but also gives a nod to the Shaq and Penny era that preceded it.

The Magic were still a very young franchise when these bad boys first took the court, and a funky uniform—as well as the aforementioned McGrady, led by Doc Rivers in his first stint as an NBA head coach—gave them an identity. That’s something that’s sorely been lacking from recent editions of the Magic, who have a young and fun nucleus, just not a lot of wins to show for it yet. If Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and the rest of the current roster look as fresh as McGrady, an oft-injured Grant Hill, and an aged Patrick Ewing (!) did the first time around, at the very least, the Magic will have something to make them feel good.

In our humble opinion, these are a huge W for the Magic. Not only did they nail the roll out—crushing the entire social campaign and getting several franchise legends to participate—they got nearly universal praise for the threads. Lots of enthusiastic internet commenters blessed them with a “10/10” or “too clean” stamps of approval. The Magic also did well to realize that sometimes the best paths for ingenuity are through the past. This is something multiple NFL teams are embracing as well, and we’re all for it.

As for the jerseys themselves, the Magic have lined up ten dates (nearly a quarter of their home games!) to wear them in action. Unfortunately, none of them are against the Brooklyn Nets, which means we’ll be denied a chance to see them share the hardwood with the Nets’ KAWS collab jersey. But who knows? Maybe this is the year the Magic figure it out, creep above .500, and have to come through Brooklyn for a playoff series. That wouldn’t exactly be the most stimulating basketball experience the NBA has to offer—but it might be its most visually stunning.

This is also the 35th season of Orlando Magic basketball, which means the team is rolling out a bunch of anniversary stuff. One such example is a slick alternate court that will grace the arena this year. Again, they knocked this out of the park.