Hornets unveil new logos and uniforms

The Hornets unveiled their new brand package today, which included three logos and redesigned uniforms. The new look is being touted as a rebirth for the franchise and the city and the logos/uniforms are supposed to reflect the city of New Orleans.

Pictured above are the revamped logos, including the fleur-de-bee logo that was worn as a patch last year. The primary logo has been updated, as I touched on a few weeks ago. They also introduced a new third logo, as they do away with the old "H" logo that had been a mainstay since the team relocated to New Orleans. This third logo is the most "New Orleans" as it uses the moniker NOLA with a trumpet underneath. This is a take on the logos that were used for the New Orleans All Star game.

As for the uniforms, at first I didn't really like them. But after checking them out some more, they've grown on me. Fans on message boards seem to like the home one, but not the blue away jersey. My only issue with the blue and gold jersey is that these are not New Orleans colors, as the Hornets are trying to say. Mardi Gras colors are purple, green and gold. Not creole blue, teal, gold and purple. But at least they are trying to connect the franchise with the city.

Being a relocated team, the Hornets can still feel like the Charlotte Hornets sometimes, especially with a nickname like Hornets not having anything to do with Louisiana or New Orleans. This brings up the other issue I've read about the jerseys: the pinstripes. Personally, I am a fan of pinstripes, especially on baseball jerseys, but Hornets fans see them going back to pinstripes like they wore in Charlotte. For a team trying to become New Orleans' own, going back to a similar look as they had in Charlotte could be a questionable move.

With that being said, I am a fan of the new look and both the home and away jerseys. I didn't love the jerseys they've worn since arriving in the Big Easy and would welcome any change from those plain-looking jerseys:

The new ones feature New Orleans on the front of both (only the NY Knicks have the city name on the front of their jerseys in the NBA besides the Hornets), the fleur-de-bee on the back above the players name and on the shorts, and the new NOLA logo on the back of the shorts. The pinstripes look nice and the road jerseys feature a lot more of the Hornets gold.

The new blue color is a good move away from teal, but reminds some of the Denver Nuggets powder blue road jerseys. Those are a shiny material, so I think the Hornets color will be distinctive to them. The team will also unveil their new court design on Friday.

All in all, a good move by the team to capitalize on their last year's success and keep the fans excited a few months away from the basketball season.


*Unveiling photos from HornetsReport.com poster say-what