The history of the Celtics’ City Edition uniforms

In 2017, Nike took over as the NBA’s official jersey provider. Thus began the era of sponsored jerseys and the City Edition uniforms. A Twitter user, Romeo, leaked a bunch of the 2024-25 City Edition uniforms… and the Celtics’ is not good.

They are simply awful and I cannot believe that we have to look at them this season.

Thus, I decided to go and look back at the City Editions of years past.

Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

2017-18: The Celtics debuted these jerseys on Paul Pierce’s jersey retirement day, and only wore them five times that season, going 3-2 in the gray jerseys.

It was meant to pay tribute to the parquet floor and 2008 championship team, with the banner on the waist band of the shorts.

A simple jersey that I like, though I don’t miss them like some of the other uniforms we will go over.

Jaylen Brown did have a 24-point performance at Madison Square Garden in these uniforms.

2018-19: Debuted on November 21st, these uniforms were in tribute to the old warmups from the Larry Bird years and boy were they a hit — these were awesome uniforms.

The Celtics wore these uniforms 11 times and went 7-4 while wearing them.

Kyrie had one of his signature games as a Celtic in them.

Denver Nuggets Vs Boston Celtics At TD Garden

2019-20: I always liked these uniforms. They gave off an Irish vibe, though it is unclear if that is what they were going for.

Debuted on November 27th, the Celtics were supposed to wear this uniform 16 times but due to the COVID-19 stoppage, they only wore them 12 times, going 6-6. The last time these uniforms were worn was March 3rd, 2020 against the Nets when Caris LeVert dropped 51, 37 of which came in the 4th quarter and overtime.

I like to remember these uniforms for different games, my favorite when Jayson Tatum scored 39 points in a double overtime thriller against the Clippers.

Or his 41-point breakout in Los Angeles against the Lakers, even though the Celtics did lose this game.

2020-21: Take a guess at what these jerseys represent. Debuted on Christmas against the Nets, the Celtics wore these jerseys in 22 different games, going 10-12 when wearing their Banner jerseys.

The Celtics went on a 31-3 run to pull off a stunning comeback against the Denver Nuggets in these uniforms.

2021-22: These City Editions were the first to not say Boston on the front of it — this time just saying Celtics across the chest.

Debuted on November 12th against the Bucks, the Celtics wore this jersey 15 times going 11-4 in them.

It was the 75th season anniversary, so they went with a retro look with these uniforms. Basing the uniforms off of the 1946 and 1949 looks, with the Celtics 75th anniversary logo and ‘Red’, in honor of Red Auerbach, on the shorts.

While these were the uniforms they blew the 25-point lead in against the Knicks, they also wore these uniforms when Jayson Tatum dropped 54 in the first round preview against Brooklyn.

2022-23: The Bill Russell uniform is my favorite uniform that the Celtics have worn during the City Edition era. Russell himself actually helped design them.

The forest green was reviled by some, saying they looked like the Bucks, but the script lettering on the chest and diamonds on the sides made this jersey a hit for me. The only thing that was missing was an alternate court — I did not like the way these uniforms looked with the kelly green surrounding the parquet.

Worn eleven times in the regular season for Russell’s eleven championships, these were the first City Edition that the Celtics wore in the playoffs. They went 8-3 in the regular season and 1-2 in the playoffs.

The Jays combined for 70 points the first time the Celtics broke out these uniforms on Opening Night against the 76ers.

Chicago Bulls (97) Vs. Boston Celtics (124) At TD Garden

2023-24: Debuted on November 10th during the first In-Season Tournament (now known as the NBA Cup), these uniforms connected the city of Boston and its rich basketball history with the Celtics.

These uniforms were like the first City Edition uniform the Celtics wore to me. Not one that was very memorable, but not a bad uniform and not a great one either. Probably the least memorable thing about the season that delivered Banner 18.

Worn 17 times, the Celtics went 13-4 in these uniforms, including 2-0 in the In-Season Tournament.

The last time they wore these uniforms Payton Pritchard scored 38 points in the last regular season game Mike Gorman called.

Overall, I would say the Celtics have had a good collection of City Edition uniforms. With the amount of messes that the NBA has put out there, Boston has not had a devastatingly bad one… until this season.

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