Orlando Magic’s new look makes NBA 2K debut

The Orlando Magic are changing some things up with their look. As evidenced in NBA 2K, their new court is looks nice and the jersey lineup will change.

The Orlando Magic created some buzz when the team released renderings of new courts it would use for the 2019-20 season.

The team will change its primary court, it appears, to feature its secondary logo at mid-court, marking the biggest change to the team’s court since changing the logo in 2010 and moving into the Amway Center.

The lane will remain a solid blue for the most part. But for the first time in the franchise’s history, they will also have an alternate court that features a black lane. And a third court with the team’s primary logo and a blue lane.

This may not have quite been the major brand overhaul some fans had hoped for from the team but it was some sign of change.

The changes to the Magic’s look for the 2019-20 season do not appear over from there.

NBA 2K20 came out Friday to give fans their first taste of the 2020 season. That includes several new jersey and court designs making their unofficial debuts. Or at least their virtual debuts.

That included the Magic’s new court which got a nice-looking overhaul after several years of fans complaining the Amway Center was lit weirdly in NBA 2K. It definitely looks like they got the parquet right this time around.

The other noticeable change is in the jersey selection screen however.

Fans will find that this year the team’s Icon Edition jersey (the traditional road jersey) has changed to the black Statement Edition uniform instead of the blue uniform.

In fact, the blue uniform — virtually the same jersey the team has worn as its road jersey since the 2009 season — is nowhere to be found in the game. At least at the initial stages.

Not included in the game too is a Statement Edition jersey (the traditional third alternate uniform). Most teams have not announced their Statement Edition jersey yet and so many are not included in the game.

That includes the Magic.

The Magic’s third court, dubbed the “Association Court,” returns the primary logo (the one with the team’s full name in it) to center court with blue-painted lanes. It is unclear what kind of jersey would go with this court — presumably not the Asssociation Edition white jerseys so they could use their “Core Court” with the secondary logo at mid-court.

The final piece to this jersey puzzle is the City Edition jersey. Most teams are set to change their City Edition jerseys this year, including the Magic. These jerseys have not yet been announced.

That jersey is the long-rumored orange jersey that will come with its own alternate court. That will represent the biggest brand shift the Magic have ever had. It will be interesting to see what the final product looks like — and whether fans get on board with it.

But the move away from the blue Icon jersey or changing it up in some meaningful way for the Statement Edition jersey is interesting too. If the Magic do not have a blue jersey in their rotation, it will be the first time without a blue jersey since the 1994 season.

Orlando added its first blue alternate jersey during the 1995 season. The team has had a blue jersey as one of its primary jerseys since switching full time to the original blue pinstripe jerseys on the road for the 1996 season.

Further evidence of this change comes from the Orlando Magic Team Shop.

While blue jerseys are still sold as Icon Edition jerseys — including the team’s description of each kind of jersey on the Web site and a blue version for Chuma Okeke — there are now black jerseys that were formerly the Statement Edition jerseys listed as Icon Edition jerseys for sale at the Orlando Magic’s online team shop.

NBA 2K20 using the black jerseys as the Icon Edition jersey seems like further proof that the Magic are making a bit of a jersey change.

Of course, that leaves the bigger question. . . what jersey will the Magic wear as their Statement Edition jersey now? And what will their City Edition jersey look like?

We will have to wait to find out.