Rockets shift away from consistency with city edition jerseys

The Houston Rockets released their city edition jerseys for the 2020-21 season, and the selection offers uniqueness and a long-awaited shift from their most consistent uniform theme of late.

The Houston Rockets, among many other NBA teams this season, have recently released their city edition jerseys for the upcoming 2020-21 NBA season. Unlike previous seasons, the Houston Rockets abstained from their traditional primary red, white and black colors. Instead, the Rockets opted for light blue as their primary color with red, white and navy blue as secondary colors.

Taking a look below, the city edition jerseys have a Houston Oilers color scheme, which give it a timeless and classic flavor. When revealed by the Houston Rockets account on Twitter earlier this week, fans were eager to voice their opinion. Some fans were receptive of the style, however there were others who expressed displeasure.

https://twitter.com/DMGrubb/status/1334518962051223552?s=20

https://twitter.com/JJWatt/status/1334320226314432512?s=20

If there is one thing that we can all agree on, it’s that Gerald Green will be ecstatic to put his jersey on. The photo of the threads released by the Houston Rockets’ Twitter account features the number 14 which has been worn previously by Green during his tenure with the Rockets.

Perhaps it was Gerald Green’s unwavering pride for the city of Houston that enabled the marketing team in the Toyota Center to feature his jersey in the initial release. To recap previous city edition jerseys worn by the team in earlier years, below is a list dating back to the 2017-18 season.

2017-18 Houston Rockets City Edition Jerseys

In 2017-18, the Houston Rockets revealed a similar style to their Chinese New Year theme that was worn in the past with the exception of it being sleeveless. This style was extremely disappointing to see as a fan, given the lack of creativity compared to other styles around the league. The organization’s business ties with China heavily influenced this decision and it was becoming apparent to Rockets fans on social media.

Yao's been gone for a decade, time to scrap the Chinese motif. They've been wearing their black alternates a lot more this year which is a def upgrade.

— Tony Owusu (@TonyTheStreet) December 27, 2017

2018-19 Houston Rockets City Edition Jerseys

Unlike the 2017-18 style, the Houston Rockets opted for a different look in the 2018-19 season, however they remained faithful to their Chinese fan base overseas. The print on the jerseys followed a more traditional Chinese theme, as seen below. However, fans seemed extremely unhappy about the organization’s reluctance to bring back hardwood classics such as the ketchup and mustard Clutch City style or the navy blue throwback swingman jerseys.

Many fans on Twitter were quite upset and below are a few of the many responses of the fans’ overall negative reception towards the city edition jerseys.

So we still can't have an H-town or ClutchCity jersey huh? pic.twitter.com/0GdGibdqQf

— Wealth Building, Motivation, Marketing – Palmer (@palmerbuiltthis) November 8, 2018

pic.twitter.com/DlJgPyoncj

— Tyler Johnson (@teemjohnson) November 8, 2018

2019-2020 Houston Rockets City Edition Jerseys

Last season was a revamp of the Houston Rockets city edition jerseys compared to their previous seasons. While the team decided to finally steer away from a Chinese influenced theme, the overall aesthetic of the uniform was quite boring. A tribute to Houston’s nickname, “H-Town” made an appearance this year, however the color scheme failed to capture the excitement of fans.

With the 2020-21 season approaching and the new release of the city edition jerseys being released, it was quite refreshing to see the organization embracing the history of the Oilers in their uniforms. It will be something to look forward to on game days versus the traditional Chinese alternate jerseys.