You can take the Rockets out of San Diego, but apparently you can’t take San Diego completely out of the Rockets.
San Diego, of course, is where the Rockets played the first four years of their franchise existence (1967-71) before moving to Houston in 1971. That’s where they’ve played for more than 50 years since.
Now, in the NBA’s 2022-23 season, the Rockets will honor their San Diego days with a special Hardwood Classic uniform via the league’s jersey agreement with Nike. It will be the first time Houston has had a Classic jersey since the 2019-20 season, in which they honored the 25th anniversary of their most recent championship season with a throwback jersey designed to replicate what they wore in 1994-95.
“History propels us forward,” the team’s video announcement says.
Our Hardwood Classic uniforms represent the beginning of a journey to greatness.
🎙 @TobeNwigwe pic.twitter.com/VoOXlCQURQ
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) August 31, 2022
With the announcement, the Rockets are now set to rotate between five uniform sets for the 2022-23 season. Those are the red Icon edition; white Associaton; black Statement; blue City; and the newly released green-and-gold Classic jerseys to represent San Diego.
On each edition, the Rockets will honor their Credit Karma Money jersey patch sponsorship agreement. However, their 2022 summer league uniforms and Wednesday’s Classic Edition reveal suggests that those patches will be slightly modified for the upcoming season.
The NBA will release its uniform schedule — i.e. what jerseys will be worn for what games — closer to the start of the 2022-23 campaign in October. For now, scroll on for a look at each of the five jerseys.