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Orlando Magic’s black alternate jerseys return with tweaks to Nike set

By Philip Rossman-Reich

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 17: Nikola Vucevic #9 of the Orlando Magic handles the ball against the Indiana Pacers on November 17, 2016 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 17: Nikola Vucevic #9 of the Orlando Magic handles the ball against the Indiana Pacers on November 17, 2016 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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A NBA2K18 lead shows the Orlando Magic’s third jersey will once again look like their adidas black alternates. But Nike made a few tweaks worth noting.

The Orlando Magic and many teams around the NBA are slowly revealing their set of jerseys for the upcoming season. The league’s switch from adidas to Nike is bringing a new kind of style to jersey selection and approach to game fashion.

At least for this first year under Nike, each team will get at least four different units. The league scrapped the traditional home/road designation going for the “Association” and “Icon” editions for the traditional uniforms. The home team can pick any jersey it would like to wear.

Each team will also get the “Athlete’s Mindset” jersey — apparently renamed the “Statement” Edition — and a “Community” jersey, based on the community. The “Community” Edition is expected to be similar to the “Rip City” “pride” jerseys from the adidas slate. It is at least a place for Nike to start in this much-anticipated eight-year apparel contract.

Most of the teams have already unveiled their traditional “Association” and “Icon” uniforms. The Magic did not offer many changes to their traditional set from last year with adidas. The “Association” edition is the same white jersey with pinstripes and black piping on the side. And the “Icon” edition is the blue jersey with pinstripes and black piping on the side.

Nothing too different to report.

Now the “Athlete’s Mindset” or “Statement” Edition jerseys are getting leaked thanks to some early releases of NBA2K. And, as some had suspected, the Magic’s third jersey is very similar to their black alternate uniforms.

But if this image from NBA2K18 is correct, there is an important difference.

As SportsLogos.net shared from a tweet by @JMoneyMikita several of these third jerseys leaked on NBA2K18, including the Orlando Magic. Here is what the Magic’s third jersey purportedly looks like:

"View post on imgur.com"

The biggest difference is the pinstripes are no longer white or gray on the black uniforms. They are blue. And the piping design used on the sides of the jersey for the traditional “Icon” and “Association” uniforms are replaced. The sides were blue in last year’s version of the black alternate jersey. Here they appear to be straight black. It is a clean and solid look for the team.

Overall, this is a solid new look for the Magic. The black alternate jersey was probably the Magic’s most popular uniform in their current set. The team debuted it during the 2012 season and it has become as synonymous as its blue jersey on the road. It is good to see it will remain part of the Magic’s jersey rotation.

There is not much to complain about this jersey, at least how it looks on screen. It will be interesting to see how it looks in person once the Magic hit the floor.

The Magic will have one more jersey, which the team will likely reveal in the winter (and add to NBA2K18 at that point). It is meant to be based on the community. It is expected they may hew closer to the “Pride” jerseys (the gray sleeved uniforms) in the adidas set.

So far the Magic’s uniforms have stuck fairly close to their last adidas jerseys. But that does not mean there is not room for some tweaks to come.

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Magic fans will have to wait until then to see what these uniforms look like for the Magic. What do you want to see?