Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good: Ranking the Top 5 NBA Jerseys of the 2025–2026 Season
Look good, feel good, play good.
With pre-season wrapping up and the season at the doorstep, it’s time to look at one of the more fun aspects of the upcoming season, the new (or throwback) threads teams will sport.
Today, I’m ranking my top 5 jerseys of the 2025-2026 season.
Honorable Mention: Cavs Classic (Rumored)
The Cavs Classic navy blue throwbacks are rumored to be in play for Cleveland this season, but since I haven’t seen much outside of a few tweets about it, this jersey stays as an honorable mention until there is more confirmation.
The Navy blue jerseys are iconic. They gave Cleveland a unique look and ushered in the beginning of the LeBron James era in the 2000s.
These were the jerseys in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals against Detroit, one of the most Iconic Cleveland basketball moments as a young LeBron James closes out a series against one of the best defenses in the NBA.
5. Washington Wizards
A Jersey near and dear to my own heart, the Wizards 2026 city edition.
Nostalgia sells, and credit to the Wizards for putting together a jersey that reminds fans of the Arenas-Butler-Jamison days. The first stretch since their name change that saw the Wizards as a competitive playoff-level team.
While it might remind some of a Duracell battery with a gold, black, and white colorway, it also reminds us of a time when D.C. basketball was fun.
An era when many hoped they would eventually knock off LeBron James in the playoffs.
Sadly, it never came to fruition.
The main thing keeping this jersey from a higher rank is how much this colorway makes me want to see the full throwback again.
Gilbert Arenas in the Gold Throwbacks
A personal preference, but after seeing the success of the traditional Wizards uniforms a few years back, it seemed like giving the fans a full throwback would’ve been a successful model to run back in subsequent years.
4. Orlando Magic
The Magic channeling their '90s roots always provides a great jersey..
It’s simple, I have this jersey in my top 5 for the full commitment to a true full rebrand. While the elements are from the past, it shows something new for an exciting era of Magic basketball.
3. Utah Jazz:
While some of the other explanations might be long-winded, this one is simple:
Mountains on a Jazz jersey always work, and it’s refreshing to see it done in a modern way.
Not really much to analyze. Mountains on a Jazz jersey = Cool, and sometimes, it’s better to keep it simple.
2. Sixers Classic:
Super close to my number 1 spot, and enforces my belief that humans peaked as jersey designers in the late 90’s-early 2000s.
While this classic Jersey can stand alone, the throwback court complementing this one will elicit memories so vivid of the Iverson days that they might expect Joel Embiid to do a “practice” rant postgame.
1. Minnesota Timberwolves
Hands down, the best jersey of all time.
Simple design with a phenomenal logo, and a call back to their WCF days with Kevin Garnett and Latrell Sprewell.
Hopefully, with the release of this jersey, the Timberwolves brass is signifying that the Kevin Garnett jersey retirement is around the corner, as the issues regarding the team's sale have since been resolved.
From the jersey design to the throwback court and marketing rollout, this is a masterclass in execution. It captures nostalgia and the identity of basketball in the Twin Cities, while being stylistically unmatched.
Argue with me all you want, but this is the perfect jersey.
Final Thoughts
Shoutout to the teams above for tapping into the past to provide a stronger connection to their fanbases.
While the Jerseys look good, it’s almost time to see if these teams will back up the elite style with elite play.
Until next time….
