Leaked Orlando Magic NBA Cup look has fans hungry for anticipated rebrand

Last year, the NBA promised that its In-Season Tournament and NBA Cup games would have a different feel to them. It was not just that every team would wear their yearly City Edition jerseys for those home games, but they announced just before the season that tournament games would also feature unique courts and presentations.

All things considered, the quick way the league put together the often loud and bold courts was pretty successful. Minus the new courts' slipperiness that many players complained about.

The league had more time to plan its second go-around with the NBA Cup and will hopefully fix most of those problems. They are also reportedly going back to basics in many ways if recent leaks from hidden files on NBA 2K25 are accurate.

The center stripe that contrasted with the rest of the court appears to be gone from this year's version of the NBA Cup court. In appears to be logos designed into the court but still presenting a more traditional court look.

With the addition of a leaked City Edition jersey that is a white version of the Kingdom on the Rise jerseys the Magic have worn the last two seasons (they wore a dark blue version of this uniform last year), the Magic have their look for the NBA Cup.

At the very least, the response is that it is inoffensive, if bordering on excitement for the Magic continuing to experiment with callbacks to its original jersey and logo design.

The Kingdom on the Rise jerseys have largely gotten mixed reviews. It made sense to go to a white version of the jersey they have worn the last two years. Arguments about the font have persisted for three years—people complain it looks too much like the Dallas Cowboys instead of the Orlando Magic.

But the jersey overall is a good and brighter look. The white version could be the best of the three Kingdom jerseys.

As always, anything the Magic do that calls back to the team's original logo or jersey gets rave reviews.

That is what everyone is loving about this supposed NBA Cup court the Orlando Magic will play on for their NBA Cup games—Nov. 12 against the Charlotte Hornets and Nov. 15 against the Philadelphia 76ers in group play.

Magic reportedly revamp NBA Cup look

The theme for this year's NBA Cup courts is to be a little less loud. The special logo elements are now in the background along with different shaded circles radiating from the center circle. What each team puts on their court is different.

The Orlando Magic rightfully kept things simple and called back to the simple element that made the Magic's logo unique. Putting stars on the court was a simple and good design. It is one of the reasons that this leak of the Magic's NBA Cup court is an early hit awaiting official confirmation.

The Magic have certainly come out better than other teams in a largely underwhelming City Edition jersey crop too. Fans seem to agree that while this is not a home run, it is a solid effort from the team.

The court seems to be a runaway hit. Most fans think the court is a strong look for the Magic without being too loud. It reminds them of the jersey and logo elements fans love. Everyone will have to see how it looks on the court.

The jerseys do not fair nearly as well, if that is what the Magic will wear for these games.

Most of the complaints are about the Western Gothic font that does not really seem to have an identity. The chain mail pinstripe design is still kind of hard to see—and was impossible to see in the black and blue versions the team wore the last two years.

It just does not look like the Magic. And the fact the Magic are recycling the same jersey design for a third year has received some criticism for being lazy (it is hard to come up with a new, bold and popular jersey design every year, I am not blaming them for sticking to a relatively inoffensive jersey like this).

The pinstripes on this year's version are more pronounced though. And that immediately perks everyone's ears up.

The Kingdom on the Rise jerseys are not going to rank among the top jerseys in Magic history. They certainly are not the worst though.

And at least some of the jersey critics out there agree that what the Magic will reportedly wear for their NBA Cup and City nights is inoffensive. Zach Harper of The Athletic gave this leak a 6/10 on his scale calling it "close to their best look."

But that gets to the point doesn't it?

Prelude to a Rebrand?

The general consensus from fans looking at these leaked images has turned toward another possibility.

Fans have been eagerly awaiting the Magic to rebrand again. With the team calling back to its original logos and jerseys more and more in recent years (let alone bringing back the Orlando Magic Theme Song)—it should not be lost on anyone that the Magic spent Thursday tweeting old images that featured some of the Magic’s old word marks and jersey. Change seems to be in the air. Fans are certainly ready for it.

With few variations—the blue Statement Edition jersey has undergone some changes over the years—the Magic have had the same basic jersey design since the 2009 season. It has not been hated so much by Magic fans, but it is not exactly beloved either.

That is perhaps unfair, nothing lives up to the original pinstripe jerseys the team wore from the inaugural season in 1990 until 1998. The jerseys that came after them, the Classic Edition jerseys the team honored last year for the 35th anniversary, were also beloved.

Orlando has chased those highs in fashion ever since, often failing to do so.

Orlando has also had the same logo since the 2011 season. And that is a logo that is not well-liked.

Essentially the team only uses the secondary streaking basketball logo it has had as part of its logo since the 10th anniversary season in 1999. That secondary logo is the center court logo now instead of the team's full wordmark logo.

It is definitely time for a rebrand.

The Magic's embrace of all things nostalgic has been widely beloved by fans. Everyone loves the throwback quarter zips the Magic's coaching staff wears on the sidelines. Everyone loved the Magic's throwback jerseys to the Tracy McGrady era and everyone loved when the Magic pulled out the original pinstripe jerseys.

If the Magic's white Kingdom jerseys have anything going for them, it makes the pinstripe design of the previous two versions more prominent (it is really a chain mail motif that looks like pinstripes) and it looks like a more modern version of the pinstripes.

It does not seem like the Magic want to make their Kingdom jerseys permanent. But there is at least something there in what fans like about these jerseys.

The introduction of the Magic's "Make It Magic" ad campaign also brought the hopes that a rebrand is in the making. The marketing campaign also reintroduced the star in place of the "a" in Magic, a simple brand change that every Magic fan would embrace since the current logo lacks any artistic flair.

The idea of a rebrand is not new. Magic CEO Alex Martins told The Athletic the team was studying a rebrand back in 2021. It does take years to develop a new identity and get it approved with the league. Something could be in the making very soon.

The Magic's reintroduction of the star to their wordmarking is certainly a positive development.

That is what had Magic fans excited about the leak of the NBA Cup court. The use of the stars so prominently in the team's marketing and now even on the team's court is a sign the Magic are embracing their history a lot more in their logos and branding.

It hints that they will be reintegrating them into whatever comes next.

Everyone is looking ahead to the official unveiling of the Magic's new City Edition jerseys and NBA Cup court. Reminder: The images above are all rumored looks that are being widely shared even among credible NBA reporters. These are not official yet.

Even if they are lukewarm on the third Kingdom jersey, these seem to be steps in the right direction and are widely accepted and lauded by Magic fans.

If this is the Magic's look for the season, they did a good job. What everyone is eager to know is if this is just the beginning and whether the Magic have something else in the works to get excited about.