Suns Unveil New Black Alternate Uniforms, Court Redesign

The Phoenix Suns have missed the playoffs for five straight seasons. They’re dealing with an embattled power forward who is now getting fined for publicly stating his desire to be traded. As a team that hopes to end the playoff drought and start contending in the near future, the Suns have been working hard to create some momentum and positive energy heading into 2015-16.

Though Phoenix unveiled a whole new batch of uniforms last summer, the Suns revealed a new black alternate uniform, a new marketing campaign and a home court redesign Tuesday night.

ALSO ON VALLEY OF THE SUNS: Can Eric Bledsoe Become A Leader For The Suns?

The Suns’ new “Civic Pride” uniform is predominantly black, with white numbering that’s filled in on the front, in addition to a white outline of “PHX.” The shorts feature the new redesigned sunburst from the team’s current batch of uniforms, while the jersey has purple trim around the collar on the front and orange trim on the backside of the collar.

The player name and number on the back is completely filled in with white, with the back of the shorts sporting a purple line near the top.

On the one hand, the “Civic Pride” jerseys are excellent because they feature the color black without looking too Halloween-y. After all, those black shooting Suns alternate jerseys from the 90s might be the best unis in the history of the NBA.

These new black unis are unique and since the Suns already have their home whites, purple aways, orange alternates (which no longer have sleeves, score one for the good guys!) and grey “Phoenix Rising” alternates that were revealed near the end of last season, this new set of blacks gives Phoenix quite a vast set of unis to choose from.

However, the white lining for the “PHX” on the front mixed with the white filled in jersey number feels like a missed opportunity to include more purple or orange.

I know, I know, Suns fans can never have enough orange and purple. It’s a small gripe, since the “Civic Pride” uniforms really are a nice change-up/addition to the Suns’ jersey repertoire, but the white on white on the front — with one set filled in and the other simply outlined — is the only problem I have with the new look.

The Suns also revealed another pleasant surprise: a new court redesign, with the central logo at half court reverting back to the sunburst logo. Phoenix’s most recent home court design looked slick, but quite a large contingent of Suns fans disliked the reliance on a black and orange color scheme because it was too Halloween-y.

With the new court, the Suns are trying to reincorporate more purple, with all the lines on the court being changed to purple. It’s hard to tell from far away, but if you look closely you can tell there’s some purple in there. The sunburst is the main attraction here, but the purple lines at least signal the team is heading in the right direction.

As for the marketing campaign, the Suns have been using the “WeArePHX” slogan for awhile now, but according to Suns president Jason Rowley and Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton, the team and the city are dedicated to ramping up their efforts on this front.

The first #WeArePHX marketing campaign is centered around Steve Nash and his imminent induction into the Suns Ring of Honor, and will begin Wednesday.

Stanton showed “WeArePHX” sketches that will be displayed around the city, as well as special purple Suns seats, for fans to take selfies with and post their pictures on social media with the #WeArePHX hashtag, which could win them free tickets to games or other prizes.

Rowley also revealed that special “We Are PHX” flags will be made available through internal channels over the next few weeks.

Just a couple of other notes from the jam-packed uniform unveiling:

• In case you somehow missed it the first time, the Suns’ orange alternates no longer feature sleeves. We can all officially love them now.
• At one point during the presser, head coach Jeff Hornacek mentioned Eric Bledsoe‘s summer work ethic as an indicator of the direction this young team is heading in. He immediately followed it up with a subtle reference to the troubling Markieff Morris situation, quipping, “We still have one little thing to take care of, hopefully.”
• You have to love mayor Greg Stanton referring to it as “pound We Are P-H-X” instead of “hashtag.”
• You also have to love that Jon Leuer joined Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, P.J. Tucker, Archie Goodwin and rookie Devin Booker as one of the six Suns modeling the jerseys, with Leuer rocking the home whites. Knight wore the regular purple aways, Tucker showed off the greys, Booker donned the purple “Los Suns” jersey, Bledsoe rocked the new Civic Prides and Goodwin had the new sleeveless oranges (did I mention they’re sleeveless now?).

Next: 5 Goals For Archie Goodwin In 2015-16

More from Valley of the Suns

• Ranking the Phoenix Suns’ 5 holiday games in 2023-24
• Zion Williamson gets compared to Phoenix Suns legend
• Suns player preview: Bol Bol can be the perfect role player
• Former Suns’ guard shows he is officially done with Phoenix
• NBA insider guarantees Suns’ rival won’t make blockbuster trade