Hornets drop new NBA Statement Edition series uniforms, court featuring classic logo
Seth Bennett wasn’t exactly tossing and turning after closing his eyes Wednesday night, but there were undoubtedly some nervously moments anticipating a potential leak.
This isn’t about any busted pipes inside the home of the Charlotte Hornets chief marketing officer, though. The kind of gushing scenario that could’ve kept Bennett up all night centered more around social media and how some special items often find their way onto the likes of Twitter and Instagram prior to an official release.
Bennett & Co. could finally breathe a sigh of relief Thursday, when the Hornets unveiled the fourth rendition of their statement edition uniforms with a video campaign featuring Cody Martin.
“You have to be able to trust a lot of people that they will respect what we are trying to do,” Bennett told The Charlotte Observer, “in the value of how valuable that process is to our organization and our league and to our partners like Nike and Lending Tree, that we are able to share it in a thoughtful way versus haphazardly going, ‘Here it is. Take it or leave it.’ Like it or not.
“But we are able to at least do that. You still may not like it, but at least you heard us, you heard the method. You saw the inspiration.”
The shiny jerseys are purple and feature the team nickname written in white spelled out across the chest, a departure from the “CHA” moniker that some fans didn’t really care for. The city’s name is emblazoned near the bottom left front of the uniform.
Sides of the jersey were designed with a stinger in mind, hoping to give an edgy look. Shorts are highlighted by a cell-like look near the waist as well as the Hornets’ secondary logo on both legs.
The statement uniforms are going to be in heavy rotation — expect to see them frequently, especially at Spectrum Center. The Hornets are scheduled to wear them nine times at home this season, including in each of their eight Saturday home games, and on 16 occasions overall in 2022-23.
Those nights in Uptown when the Hornets’ don their new threads will be accompanied by something else sure to create a different viewing vibe: a sleek, purple-laden court. It replaces the old, classic court the Hornets decommissioned after its final use in March.
With a price tag north of six figures, the new floor didn’t come cheap.
“It’s a huge commitment,” Bennett said, “because not only do we have to make the investment in the court, we also have to store it and we also have additional operational costs to take it up and put it down that impact it,. So it’s a considerable decision for us as an organization. But we see it as an investment and a fan experience.”
The floor stays under wraps until its initial use next month. When Charlotte native Steph Curry returns to town with Golden State on Oct. 29, weeks after having his jersey retired at Davidson and receiving a key to the city from the mayor and other officials, he gets to help break the Hornets’ new look in.
Although purchasing a statement jersey prior to Curry’s arrival won’t be possible since the uniform isn’t anticipated to be available until sometime around the holiday season, likely in November. Still, having Curry in town coinciding with the Hornets ushering in this latest version of their statement uniforms has them eager for a juicy atmosphere.
“It’s already a special energy when we play against Steph,” Bennett said. “So being able to add this element that our fans can engage with in a different way, I just think is going to kind of raise that bar even more and highlight our NBA product overall.”
This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Hornets drop new NBA Statement Edition series uniforms, court featuring classic logo."
