The 1990s were a glorious decade for NBA team logos across the league.
It’s hard to put a finger on just what made them so great compared to today’s NBA logos. While today’s team logos are more minimalist and abstract, 90s logos were more literal, unforgiving and uncompromising – just proud “to be” – not worried about looking fashionable.
Put simply, team logos in the 90s reeked unadulterated “awesomeness.”
Without further adieu, here’s five of my favorite NBA logos from the 90s. In next month’s blog I’ll take a look at a few of my other favorites from the decade.
The Top 5
The Houston Rockets
There’s so much to love here. As a 9-year old in 1999, I was drawn to this logo. How there’s a literal rocket, with a face… so good.
They looked amazing on Houston’s uniforms:
I’d love to see James Harden and today’s Rockets wear these as a throwback next season.
The Utah Jazz
More “literalness” to the max. You have to love the detail of those mountains and the intricate indigo-to-blue fade. Beautiful.
They looked incredibly great on the Jazz’s 90s uniforms:
Like a work of art, beautiful.
The Toronto Raptors
Long before the Raptors landed Kawhi Leonard, they sported this phenomenal logo. Much like the Rockets’ 90s mark, it’s an extremely literal representation of their nickname.
Here’s a look at Vince Carter repping the logo in the 90s:
Those pin-stripes/dinosaur fence barbed wires are just sick.
The Golden State Warriors
The dictionary definition of the word “Warrior” is “a brave or experienced soldier or fighter.” A pretty broad definition, right?
So what did the Warriors do? They created a literal Warrior-man for their logo!
You can spot the Warrior-man on their 90s uniform shorts:
Those lightning bolts are just amazing.
The Detroit Pistons
You gotta love it. The teal green, the cylinder car pistons underlining the word “Piston,” and the ultra-detailed bronco representing a piston’s…. “horsepower.” So much to love here.
Here’s how they looked on the Pistons’ 90s uniforms:
That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this month’s 90s blast from the past. Stay tuned for next month’s look at my next favorite five NBA logos from the decade that was.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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