The Los Angeles Lakers will be undergoing a major transition in the next season. After what ended up being a perfect farewell to Kobe Bryant, the team will be moving to an era without their 20-year superstar.
But despite losing their legend, the Lakers will be moving forward to an era with a multitude of young players and a first-time head coach. Added to a core that already includes Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance, Jr. and hopefully a future superstar in D’Angelo Russell, will be the second pick in the upcoming draft, likely Duke’s Brandon Ingram.
Things are certainly looking up for the Lakers with free agency also fast approaching. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Lakers should be vastly improved next season, which is not a difficult goal to reach after a franchise-worst 17-win season.
The excitement for the new era of the Lakers, even if the team will at most be mediocre next season, will likely see them in the NBA’s Christmas Day lineup once again in 2016, their first without Kobe.
And with the likelihood of playing on Christmas comes a new set of uniforms for the team. More than six months in advance, ESPN’s Uni Watch has acquired the designs for every team in the league, should they be playing in the annual showcase. These will be the final Christmas Day jerseys created by Adidas as the NBA has a new partnership with Nike starting in the 2017-18 season.
FIRST LOOK: This is the 2016 Christmas Day uniform for the @Lakers. Full details here: https://t.co/9WWJFPfGJE pic.twitter.com/aApzolQgG9
— Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) June 1, 2016
This new set looks very similar to the 2015 Lakers unis, with only a few differences. Last year’s jersey had the word “Lakers” written in the same script font on the front of the jersey instead of Los Angeles. Additionally, last year’s jersey had a wide purple trim on the side of the jersey, whereas the new ones are white throughout.
The leaked 2016 jersey is pretty slick but it looks like a bit of a downgrade to me. That said, seeing “Ingram” written on the back of that might change my mind.