Spread love, it’s the Brooklyn way… If there’s one NBA team that takes these words to heart, it’s the Brooklyn Nets, of course.
This week, the team decided to pay homage to a hometown hero, who just so happens to be considered as one of the greatest, most iconic rappers of all time: The Notorious B.I.G. The NBA unveiled Nike’s City Edition uniforms for the 2018-2019 season and the Nets’ tribute to the late Brooklyn-bred MC is appreciated by many in the borough.
The jerseys were created with fans. And as many fans of Biggie Smalls know, he loved him some Coogi sweaters. “However, living better now, Coogi sweater now/ Drop top BM’s, I’m the man, girlfriend,” the rapper spit on “Big Poppa.” Plus, on “Hypnotize,” Smalls rapped, “Every cutie wit a booty bought a Coogi (hah!)/ Now who’s the real dookie, meanin’ who’s really the shit.”
So, the jerseys that honor The Notorious B.I.G. have Coogi-inspired designs. They’re mainly black. However, they have the colors yellow, orange, blue, black and red around the trim.
A press release from December 2017 stated that “the Nike NBA City Edition uniforms represent insights and emotion from the court to the upper deck to the cities’ streets, in pursuit of a unique way to capture each team and its city in a way that respects the past and present of the clubs while also positioning them for the future.”
Brooklyn Nets journalist Anthony Puccio tweeted the first look at the brand new, special jerseys. “Told these are indeed Brooklyn’s City Edition Jersey’s… Thoughts?” he said, as he posted two photos of them. Take a look below.
On the 20th anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G.’s death, close friend and frequent collaborator Diddy reflected on Biggie’s Life After Death album. Diddy stated that he would’ve loved to see how much his friend would’ve grown as an already amazing lyricist.