We already knew that as many as five NBA teams would be joining the Golden State Warriors in wearing Adidas-provided jerseys with sleeves next season, and that the Phoenix Suns will be one of them, despite the Twitter protest of Suns guard Kendall Marshall. We don't yet know the identities of the other sleeve squads, but on Tuesday, we learned that the Indiana Pacers are going to at least "experiment" with the arm-covering ensemble this summer.
Scott Agness of Pacers.com said the members of the Pacers' Orlando Summer League team will have the sleeved gear rather than the standard reversible jerseys, and that the players would be rocking black and white jerseys (pictured above, thanks to the Twitter account of Pacers Director of Media Relations David Benner) rather than Indy's customary navy blue, which apparently "wasn’t available when teams were required to order" their gear.
As you might expect, news of the onward march of the not-so-popular sleeved jerseys was met with dismay and, in the case of one particularly prominent Pacer, disgust:
@PacersDMB what is that?!? Keep away.
— Roy Hibbert (@Hoya2aPacer) July 2, 2013
Worry not, Roy Hibbert — Agness reports that the Pacers are not expected to be one of the new sleeved teams come the regular season, meaning this imposition is, for the moment, solely the concern of the likes of Miles Plumlee, Solomon Hill, Ben Hansbrough and the rest of Indy's Summer League gang.
If things should change, though, Hibbert need only draw on his college experience to get right with the new, tank-top-averse world order. Or, failing that, maybe see if Adidas is willing to mock up a vest and monocle to go with it. They might balk, since this seems like something that both the league and its apparel partner as maddeningly invested in, it's probably worth a shot.
Hat-tip to Brett Pollakoff at ProBasketballTalk.
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