Magic go simple with uniforms By Shannon Shelton | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted August 2, 2003 New uniform. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Aug 1, 2003 Out with the iridescent stars. And no reincarnations of the pinstripes. The new Orlando Magic uniforms are models of simplicity. In conjunction with the team's 15th anniversary, the Magic unveiled their new uniforms during a public outdoor ceremony outside of Orlando City Hall on Friday morning. Magic power forward Drew Gooden and rookie point guard Reece Gaines modeled the home and road jerseys, while Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer presided over the event. The old Magic uniforms were canvases of varied artistic motifs and patterns. The new ones have a plain background with MAGIC spelled out in block letters on the white home jerseys, and ORLANDO printed in the same font on the blue road jerseys. A small streaking basketball logo appears on the side of the shorts. The road uniform color was also changed from dark blue to a lighter peacock-blue shade. The Reebok-brand jerseys also feature the company's trademarked Playdry material, a fabric designed to wick moisture from the jersey more quickly and allow for faster drying. "I like them a lot," Gooden said. "It feels a lot better, the material. I also like the design with 'Orlando'. It's different. It's plain and simple. It says we're out here to play a game. We're not here for fashion." "It says Orlando, it's got your number on it, so go out and play." Gooden and Gaines presented Dyer with one of the new jerseys, personalized with his last name on the back and the number 15 -- representing the team's 15 years. Orlando Magic guard Tracy McGrady gave the uniforms his approval before they were shown to the public, and McGrady appears on the cover of the August issue of Orlando Magazine wearing the blue "Orlando" road jersey. The uniform's lack of "clutter" marks a departure from previous incarnations of Orlando apparel. The original Magic uniform unveiled in the inaugural 1989-90 season was dominated by a pinstriped background. A black road jersey also existed along with the blue one. The first uniform change, which coincided with the team's 10th anniversary season of 1998-99, showcased an inlaid star pattern throughout the material and pinstripes on the side panels of the jerseys and shorts. On both versions, the word MAGIC appeared on home and road jerseys, written in the team font. Both were typical 1990s-era uniforms that fit in well with the trends of stripes, patterns, oversized logos, cartoon characters, colors-of-the moment like teal and black and the third-color road jerseys. Now basic is back in the NBA. And the Magic have embraced the look. Words like retro, classic, clean and throwback were tossed around by some onlookers attempting to describe the look of the new unis. Not all were instant fans. Although Anthony Flores, 22, shelled out $48 for one of the new white Tracy McGrady jerseys being sold outside City Hall, he preferred the old style to the new one. A Gooden home jersey was also available. "I just like the old ones better because they had the logo on it," Flores said. "But I'm a jersey freak."
