When the winless Los Angeles Lakers face the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in Minneapolis on Friday night, they’ll be wearing their 2022-23 Classic Edition uniforms, which pay tribute to the Minneapolis Lakers.
Look no further than Twitter to find someone considering it a slap in the face to the Timberwolves. Even heralded Timberwolves beat reporter Jon Krawczynski is calling it a “bold move.”
It is definitely a … bold move. https://t.co/yzRD2I73Sg
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) October 28, 2022
But according to the NBA.com uniform schedule for the Lakers, it’s on the schedule. Did they switch things up and choose this at the last second or has it been on the schedule the whole time? We have no idea because we don’t check uniform schedules…ever.
Anyway, the jersey is an ode to the Minneapolis Lakers, who won five championships before moving to Los Angeles. The L.A. Lakers wore the Minneapolis-inspired uniforms from 1948-52, and they’re bringing that same look back this season to celebrate the 75-year anniversary of Minnesota delivering them an elite franchise.
You know what’s fact? There is literally zero mention of Minneapolis or Minnesota on the uniforms. The only thing connected to Minneapolis is the blue and gold coloring the Minneapolis Lakers wore and the typography of “Lakers” across the front. That’s it.
Now if the Lakers were wearing the jerseys with “MPLS” across the front like they did in 2017-18, then that’s another story. But the Lakers only wore those beauties five times and never against the Wolves, so it never presented as an opportunity for controversy.
The Lakers will wear the Minneapolis uniforms again Saturday when they host the Denver Nuggets.
