Pelicans Uniforms Play It Safe With Simple, Boring Design

The Pelicans uniforms were unveiled this week, but the new duds are earning some poor marks on the creativity front.

The NBA team shed its Hornets moniker and opted for a total re-branding, with a red, blue, and gold color scheme announced in April. This week the team brought out players Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson, and Jason Smith to show off jerseys that are being called “pedestrian” and “generic.”

The Pelicans uniforms does away from the teal theme the Hornets adopted, one that was in vogue in the 1990s but has fallen out of favor with fans. But instead of attempting something equally as ambitious, the Pelicans adopted a palette that plays it safe.

The team’s home uniforms are conventional white while the road uniforms are dark blue, symbolizing Louisiana’s state flag.

The most interesting part seems to be what the team calls a “Bird-de-Lis,” an insertion of a Pelican into the iconic New Orleans Fleur-de-lis that the Saints also wear.

Here is what the Pelicans had to say about the new jerseys:

“The Pelicans’ partial logo is featured on the side of the shorts, while the ‘Bird-de-Lis’ will be highlighted in the center back of the neck of the jersey. At the center of the waistband of the shorts sits a unique ligature that combines the letters ‘N’ and ‘O’ to form a basketball. This new mark, created specifically and exclusively for the Pelicans, will be used selectively by the team and incorporated into Pelicans’ branding.”

ESPN’s Uni Watch noted that the team didn’t even advertise its name anywhere on the jerseys:

“In a somewhat surprising move, the word [Pelicans’ is nowhere to be found on the home or road jerseys, both of which feature a ‘New Orleans’ wordmark. Even odder, the city name is rendered in very small lettering, which allows the front uniform numbers to be larger than usual. Refs and scorers will have no trouble telling one Pelican from another.”

The Pelicans uniforms have a chance to add a little more variety next year. The team is not allowed to introduce a third, alternate jersey until the second year of a rebranding, so alternate schemes should be unveiled for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.