A brief history of the logoman patch on NBA uniforms
Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 9:28 am
The purpose of this thread is to run through the history of the logoman patch on NBA uniforms. If you want more info on the logoman itself, you can refer to my conversation with designer Alan Siegel. If you have any info that needs to be added, feel free to share!
In 1969, the league approached Siegel about designing a logo. They wanted something similar to the MLB logo so they could have some unity with all of the major American pro sports leagues. He found a picture of Jerry West that he liked and showed them his design. The league approved it, and the rest is history. While this logo was initially used on a number of promotional materials, it didn’t immediately show up on NBA uniforms like we see today.
If you search the history of the logoman patch online, you’re not going to get many results. ESPN attempted a summary in 2014, but some of the information is not correct. They said the first logoman patch was included as part of a 35th anniversary patch that was used in the 1980-81 season. That is not correct. My findings revealed that the league first used the patch in the 1970-71 season on the right leg of player shorts. It was also featured on that year’s All-Star game shorts.
The only other time I saw the logo on a pair of shorts in the ‘70s was the 1974 All-Star Game, but it didn’t show up on a regulation uniform again until the 35th Anniversary patch appeared on shorts for the duration of the 1980-81 season.
As a sidenote, this could help explain some of the photos used for the 1972-73 Topps set, because multiple players had logoman patches on their shorts in that set (Phil Jackson, Willis Reed, Pete Maravich, Butch Beard...and the list goes on). I'm going to assume the pictures for that set were taken at some point in the 1970-71 season, or at the latest, the start of the next season and they were still using the previous season’s shorts.
The logoman still wasn’t a normal thing in the years that followed the 35th anniversary patch. Starting in the early ‘80s, a jumbo logoman patch became a common part of each player’s warmup.
The standard logoman patch didn’t make it’s way onto NBA jerseys until the 1986-87 season, when it was placed on the left shoulder and on either side of the shorts, depending on where team logos were placed.
At that point, the league went almost three decades without any major changes to the logoman or its placement (with the exception of the Heat, who had their logoman on the opposite side for roughly two decades). There were different variations, for certain events or certain nights. For instance, the league used a gold logoman for the 1996-97 season, which was the 50th anniversary of the NBA. They also had a special 50th anniversary logoman patch that went on all of the warmups. There have been different logoman patches for some of the Christmas Day games. They did a green logoman for green week. They did a special logoman for the Noche Latina events. The Finals have had different logos. But all of those were temporary changes.
The next big change happened in July of 2014. And that’s when the league quietly moved the logo to the back of the jersey, centered above each player’s nameplate. Just a side note, for all of you patch card collectors, 18 teams had been using a team logo or secondary logo in this same spot. At this point, the logoman displaced those patches.The reason for the move wasn’t really confirmed at the time, but a lot of people correctly predicted that they were making space for ads in the future.
Finally, when the league switched to Nike in 2017, the patch stayed on the back, but the stitched/embroidered patch was replaced by a plastic/vinyl version. Select Nike uniforms still use a stitched version (primarily throwbacks).
In 1969, the league approached Siegel about designing a logo. They wanted something similar to the MLB logo so they could have some unity with all of the major American pro sports leagues. He found a picture of Jerry West that he liked and showed them his design. The league approved it, and the rest is history. While this logo was initially used on a number of promotional materials, it didn’t immediately show up on NBA uniforms like we see today.
If you search the history of the logoman patch online, you’re not going to get many results. ESPN attempted a summary in 2014, but some of the information is not correct. They said the first logoman patch was included as part of a 35th anniversary patch that was used in the 1980-81 season. That is not correct. My findings revealed that the league first used the patch in the 1970-71 season on the right leg of player shorts. It was also featured on that year’s All-Star game shorts.
The only other time I saw the logo on a pair of shorts in the ‘70s was the 1974 All-Star Game, but it didn’t show up on a regulation uniform again until the 35th Anniversary patch appeared on shorts for the duration of the 1980-81 season.
As a sidenote, this could help explain some of the photos used for the 1972-73 Topps set, because multiple players had logoman patches on their shorts in that set (Phil Jackson, Willis Reed, Pete Maravich, Butch Beard...and the list goes on). I'm going to assume the pictures for that set were taken at some point in the 1970-71 season, or at the latest, the start of the next season and they were still using the previous season’s shorts.
The logoman still wasn’t a normal thing in the years that followed the 35th anniversary patch. Starting in the early ‘80s, a jumbo logoman patch became a common part of each player’s warmup.
The standard logoman patch didn’t make it’s way onto NBA jerseys until the 1986-87 season, when it was placed on the left shoulder and on either side of the shorts, depending on where team logos were placed.
At that point, the league went almost three decades without any major changes to the logoman or its placement (with the exception of the Heat, who had their logoman on the opposite side for roughly two decades). There were different variations, for certain events or certain nights. For instance, the league used a gold logoman for the 1996-97 season, which was the 50th anniversary of the NBA. They also had a special 50th anniversary logoman patch that went on all of the warmups. There have been different logoman patches for some of the Christmas Day games. They did a green logoman for green week. They did a special logoman for the Noche Latina events. The Finals have had different logos. But all of those were temporary changes.
The next big change happened in July of 2014. And that’s when the league quietly moved the logo to the back of the jersey, centered above each player’s nameplate. Just a side note, for all of you patch card collectors, 18 teams had been using a team logo or secondary logo in this same spot. At this point, the logoman displaced those patches.The reason for the move wasn’t really confirmed at the time, but a lot of people correctly predicted that they were making space for ads in the future.
Finally, when the league switched to Nike in 2017, the patch stayed on the back, but the stitched/embroidered patch was replaced by a plastic/vinyl version. Select Nike uniforms still use a stitched version (primarily throwbacks).