Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
It seems to be a popular trend in sports nowadays to have that third uniform, like the one the Detroit Pistons unveiled on Wednesday.
Power forward Greg Monroe modeled the team’s new team uniform, which has a navy blue and red look with the white letters Motor City printed in front. It’s the first alternative uniform since the 2005-06 season, when the Pistons were still NBA title contenders.
They’ll wear it for 10 games, and the team will have to have a new W-L record with the new uniforms.
Uniforms obviously have nothing to do with a team’s performance. If that was the case, the Pistons should have had a third jersey a long time ago. The “Motor City” usage isn’t a bad idea, since the Pistons are frequently reminded they’re the only franchise among the four not to be in downtown Detroit.
But the Pistons have avoided, like most other NBA teams, the trend to go to flashier uniforms which, because of too much design work on the jersey, makes it look worse than the previous uniform. Teams usually change their uniforms when they’re not doing well, and they need a distraction against the media wanting to point out how poorly the team is performing.
The Pistons wouldn’t mind putting world champs on their uniform sometime down the road. The NBA obviously won’t allow that, but going for a world title is what’s really going to get Pistons fans excited about their team again, regardless of what the uniforms look like.
John Raffel is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JohnCarlRaffel, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
