The Sixers Are Finally Bringing Back The Allen Iverson Era Black Uniforms Just In Time To Make Everybody Hate Them
Nathaniel S. Butler. Getty Images.Some people keep a certain amount of money stashed away as a "rainy day fund", just in case they ever truly need it. You fall on some tough times, at least you have that money to float you through until whenever you're able to get yourself out of the shit.
The Allen Iverson Era black third jerseys has always been the "rainy day fund" for the Philadelphia 76ers. Fans have been yearning for the return of these uniforms for years now. They've had the ability to bring them back whenever they wanted to, which meant that they could just keep them stashed away in their back pocket for whenever they really needed to do a bit of fan service. They could dangle the idea of these uniforms out in front of the fans like holding a piece of bacon up to a dog. But the situation was never dire enough for them to finally pull the trigger and bring them back.
Until now.
Now I'm sure there was always a plan in place to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that 2001 team by bringing these jerseys back in 2026. But let's not completely overlook the current state of this organization. The Sixers are saddled with one of the worst contracts in basketball with Paul George still having 3 more years left on his $211M contract. They missed the playoffs last year after Joel, Tyrese, and Paul George only played a total of 15 together. And now it's starting to sound like that number is going to stay at 15 because who knows when Joel Embiid will ever be able to return again.
The Sixers waited so long to bring back these uniforms that they might end up wasting them on the worst Sixers team in a decade. Maybe the reports about Joel's knee aren't as bad as they're saying. Maybe Paul George can piece together at least a decent half of a season to keep the Sixers in the playoff mix. Hopefully VJ Edgecombe and Jared McCain provide enough youthful spark to make this team fun again. But all signs are pointing towards the Sixers taking an iconic uniform, and its lasting legacy being wasted on a team whose season is done by March.
Which is either terrible accidental timing, or impeccable strategic timing. Maybe the Sixers know that Embiid's knee is done forever, and they need to get out ahead of it. They need to get the fans back on their side real quick before they deliver that blow. Maybe they know this team is going to be battling for a lottery pick, and they need to make as much money off of jersey sales as they can because ticket sales aren't going to get them anything.
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All I know is that Sixers fans have been clamoring for this uniform to come back for years, and now that they're here? It still isn't enough to inject enough juice into this season to get excited about. Hindsight is 20/20, but they really should have taken advantage on bringing these back while there was still legitimate hope for this team.
With the way the NBA works, the Sixers have put out like 10 new uniforms over the last 6 seasons. Some of them have been good--like, for example, I think the Spectrum uniforms are great and have a chance to be iconic if the Sixers were ever to actually win anything in them.
Stacy Revere. Getty Images.I think these classic jerseys they put out in 2020 were risky, but ultimately super clean and a good tip of the cap to the history of the organization.
Mitchell Leff. Getty Images.The "City of Brotherly Love" Reading Terminal jerseys were a bit of a mess, but ultimately harmless. But then we get to some of the truly atrocious ones. Like the city edition jerseys they put out in 2019 that were meant to look like Rocky running through the streets of Philly.
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I get the idea. But holy shit was this putrid looking. Just an all-time hideous jersey. The only uniform that could possibly be worse than this was the Boathouse Row city edition uniform that finally brought a black jersey back to the Sixers, but it just turned out to be one of the worst jerseys ever created.
Tim Nwachukwu. Getty Images.There are a lot of unforgivable things that Ben Simmons has done to this city. But those uniforms are right up there at the top in a league of their own.