CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the Locked On Cavs podcast in the player above is from Oct. 25, 2021.
As the NBA celebrates its 75th anniversary, the Cleveland Cavaliers will pay homage to several uniform designs of their past.
On Monday, Nike and the NBA unveiled their City Edition uniforms for the 2021-22 campaign.
First implemented in 2017, Nike's City Edition program allows teams the opportunity to wear a new alternate uniform each season with looks typically inspired by the team's community or history. In honor of the league's 75th anniversary, each team is wearing City Edition uniforms inspired by previous team looks.
The Cavs are no exception, with a wine and gold design featuring a checkered border reminiscent of the franchise's first uniform in 1970. The chest of the jersey featured the team's first-ever logo, while the number font pays tribute to the jerseys of the late-1990s.
Meanwhile, the bottom left tag of the jersey features three white dots and four gold dots in an order that makes it an obvious nod to Cleveland's 3-1 comeback over the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals -- the franchise's lone NBA title. "2016" is also printed underneath the tag.
As for the bottoms, the Cavs' shorts feature logos from the 1980s, 1990s and the 2010s. Cleveland will debut the alternate uniforms when it hosts the Boston Celtics for a 7:30 p.m. ET tip-off at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday, Nov. 13.
"The uniforms are styled in the franchise’s classic crimson and gold, a pattern that honors the return of the team’s swashbuckling swordsman from the '70s and the Miracle at Richfield," Nike said in a description of the uniforms. "The jersey pays tribute to the '16 championship season, and the legendary comeback that brought the city its first title in generations. The shorts rep the Cavs logo from the ’80s and ’90s playoff runs on one leg, and the logo from the historic ’16 season on the other."
You can see a full gallery of the Cavs' new uniforms in the gallery below, via Nike.
