Ranking every Mavericks City Edition jersey, from “The reason free agents didn’t come to Dallas” to “Instant classics”

The Mavs history with City Edition kits has been quite the roller coaster ride

It’s the dawn of a new NBA season, which of course means hope and optimism is in abundance. It also means that Nike is launching more uniforms into the world, because we can’t just stick with what works. Anyhow, this year will be the eighth year of the NBA’s “City Edition” look. Coincidentally enough, this will be the eighth different uniform that the Mavericks will have worn as their City Edition (figure it out, Nike!) With the season quickly approaching, there’s no time like the present to rank all eight uniform and court combinations into tiers.

Criteria:

– The jersey is either good or bad – nothing is ever neutral

– On court look, court included. Are they worn a lot because they’re good, or because Nike is forcing them on us?

– Would any one actually buy the jersey?

– Do the jerseys actually represent Dallas?

– Vibes

With that housekeeping out of the way, onto the tiers!

The reason free agents didn’t come to Dallas

8) 2019-20

There are no redeeming qualities about this uniform whatsoever. This was forced upon us against our will and Nike can never be forgiven for that. The most redeeming quality about the entire experience was that it was only a one season deal. To top it all off, the court design was also HORRENDOUS. It all just looked cartoonish. I’d like to imagine that Dirk’s silhouette isn’t on the court because he didn’t want to be associated with this.

Just your normal bad

7) 2018-19

6) 2017-18

Both of these jerseys came and left before the City Edition court was a thing, which is probably a good thing. For as wild and chaotic as the graffiti art jersey was, these were equally boring, which is not a good thing! The jerseys don’t represent Dallas in any way, shape or form. I at least see people wearing the graffiti jersey due to it being unique, but these are so bland I’m convinced no one even owns one anymore.

The wrong side of mid

5) 2020-21

These jerseys didn’t get a fair shot, as they were rightly overshadowed by the return of the retro green uni’s and the throwback court that went with them. However, I just wasn’t the biggest fan of the gold uniforms as a whole. They did get a moment in the spotlight when Luka hit a ridiculous 3 to beat Memphis, but that was in front of 18 people in the FedEx Forum due to Covid restrictions. With no specialty court and no real relation to Dallas, it was hard to have any real connection to these.

Elite jersey but the team ruined it

4) 2022-23

I will never forgive the 2022-23 Dallas Mavericks, along with every other Mavs fan in the world, for the atrocities they put us through that year. That being said, the City Edition jerseys that year absolutely ruled. The fonts, the blue and green colors, everything was great. Nike absolutely cooked with these, and the court to go along with it was great too.

It’s just, you know, the team stunk for some reason and none of it was any fun at all. But if that wasn’t the case, these would slide into the next tier.

Elite jersey and the team hasn’t ruined it

3) 2024-25

I’m doing a fair bit of projecting here, on both the jersey looking good and on the Mavs not ruining them. These can easily be bumped up to the instant classic tier depending on what the court looks like. I wish there was a bit more of color to pop on this, a splash of last year’s black and highlighting could’ve looked good. However, at this juncture there’s nothing to complain about here.

Instant classics

2) 2023-24

Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

Last year’s collection was the perfect example of less being more. Fort Worth’s own Leon Bridges collaborated with the team to help with the design, and they turned out fantastic. Fans came to know and love the jerseys and the corresponding court that came with them.

These were the first City Edition uniforms to make an appearance in the playoffs for Dallas. The Mavs wore these jerseys in the NBA Playoffs 4 times, going 3-1 and clinching both the LA Clippers and OKC Thunder series in those uniforms at home.

1) 2021-22

Everything about this kit was immaculate, and the team matched that energy. As we wrote in 2021 when the jerseys were released, the jerseys and court were an awesome blend of past Mavs history and the modern Mavs. With the old white & green colors and the cowboy hat on the D in Dallas, the fanbase really rallied behind these. It’s a shame that they weren’t worn in the playoffs that year, because they ruled.

That’s my ranking of every Mavericks City Edition uniform to date. Let me know in the comments how I did and if you’d rank them differently. After all, I’m the only one sticking my neck out there to get flamed by the internet on this!

One thing I think we can all agree on is that while some of these uniforms are objectively terrible, Nike & the Mavs have done a good job with them lately. I’m excited to see this season’s jerseys out on the court, which will happen very soon! Until then, we’ll continue getting you ready for the season here at Mavs Moneyball.