Ranking the Thunder’s All-Time Uniform Options
With the Thunder’s 2018-19 “City” alternate jersey being leaked on Twitter earlier in the week, a few of us here at Daily Thunder dot com decided to get together and rank every uniform option the Thunder has worn since arriving in Oklahoma City. Everyone listed their favorites in order, we took the average ranking for each, and that’s the simple math behind this project. Easy enough.
The voters included Pierce Trahan, Matt Craig, Wade Pierce, Dillon Young, and Weston Shepherd. The last three wrote brief descriptions under each and those are marked with the initials WP, DY, or WS.
Let’s get to it.
(13) Original Navy Alternate
Highest Rank: 12
Lowest Rank: 13
Average Rank: 12.8
There was very little to like about the Thunder’s original alternate jersey, but that vertical “THUNDER” running down the right side of the body was horrific. As Jerry Seinfeld once said, “We’re really just rooting for our clothes to defeat the clothes from the team of the other city.” These were bad enough to make you occasionally cheer for the other set of clothes. -WS
(12) 2014 Christmas Alternate
Highest: 8
Lowest: 13
Average Rank: 10.8
I cannot hate these any more than I do. I look forward to the Christmas jerseys every year, but what did Adidas do? It looks like they found pieces of regular jerseys and sewed them together to create Frankenstein’s ugly uniform option. Thanks for ruining Christmas, guys. -DY
(11) Road Blue
Highest: 6
Lowest: 12
Average Rank: 9.8
Never been a fan of these basic unis. “But Wade, you own like two of these.” Yeah, shut up — I used to have a disposable income and now I host trivia nights. -WP
(10) 2012 Christmas Alternate
Highest: 7
Lowest: 11
Average Rank: 8.6
This is just a hard-to-read version of the Road Blues. No thanks. -WP
(9) 2017-18 “City” Alternate
Highest: 5
Lowest: 11
Average Rank: 8.4
Frequently criticized by the fan base, the Thunder’s first “City” alternate won’t be missed — but were they ever as bad as they were made out to be? Don’t be surprised if they end up as the George W. Bush of Thunder uniform options. I mean, no, it wasn’t great. But something will eventually come along and make you realize how good you really had it. -WS
(8) 2013 Christmas Alternate
Highest: 4
Lowest: 9
Average Rank: 7.2
For all the flack the Thunder logo gets, it sure looked great on these jerseys. The monochromatic shield on the chest was superhero-esque. (And I like the sleeves…. Sue me.) -DY
(7) 2015 Christmas Alternate
Highest: 2
Lowest: 12
Average Rank: 7
Adidas managed to make a cool jersey that actually lifted my Christmas spirit. They had a classic look — and that script? Oh, baby. Merry Christmas. -DY
(6) 2016 Christmas Alternate
Highest: 3
Lowest: 11
Average Rank: 6.6
These are great but the lack of creativity was a little disappointing. It’s the 2015 Christmas jersey in a different shade of blue and nobody likes re-gifters. -WS
(5) Sleeved “Pride” Alternate
Highest: 1
Lowest: 9
Average Rank: 5.6
Although the sleeves weren’t extremely well-liked by the fans and players around the league, the “Pride” jerseys were actually alright. The team wore them frequently in the 2015-16 season/playoffs, which was cool. It all started to feel messed up once they started being referred to as the “White Pride” jerseys. There is enough of that already, trust me. -WS
(4) Home White
Highest: 2
Lowest: 9
Average Rank: 5.2
The home whites are the consensus favorites of the original batch of jerseys. We’ve made a lot of memories watching the Thunder wear these in the ‘Peake. They’ll be around until the organization finally decides to re-brand. -DY
(3) 2018-19 “City” Alternate
Highest: 2
Lowest: 7
Average Rank: 3.6
Recency bias fully in play, but I love the new shade of blue. Still a big fan of the big OKC on the chest. I like the angle with the Native American design – I’m not sure who said it, but I agree they should’ve done something different with the numbers. -WP
(2) “Statement” Alternate
Highest: 2
Lowest: 6
Average Rank: 3.4
Before the Statements came along, I was afraid the Thunder was simply incapable of anything modern. This edition not only put those fears to rest but may have actually been one of the best NBA uniforms Nike put out in 2017-18. -DY
(1) “Sunset” Alternate
Highest: 1
Lowest: 5
Average Rank: 2
Oh, Sunsets — how I miss thee. Despite only being around for a couple seasons, the Sunsets were easily the best thread option the Thunder has ever had in its wardrobe. OU fans were a little salty about the whole orange thing, but the “OKC” on the front and departure from the traditional white/blue was magnificent. Go ahead and bring these back, Nike. It’s time. -WS
