My first thought after gazing upon the now-infamous leaked photo of Kevin Love was that the Wolves brass were either PR geniouses or a complete bunch of buffoons. Had they actually unveiled that trainwreck of a uniform this afternoon it may have gone down as the most embarrassing moment in franchise history. The players would have spent the next 82 games as the laughing-stock of the league and practically killed any excitement T-Wolves fans may have had regarding the start of this "new era". Truth be told, I would have preferred that Big Al Jefferson and company trot out on the court in one of McHale’s sweaters than that prototype.
Thankfully, the folks running the show over at 600 First Avenue managed to keep their 365-plus day streak of rock-solid moves intact with the way they handled the unveiling of the new jerseys. Maybe I’m giving credit where credit isn’t due as the Kevin Love photo could have easily been leaked by a low-level employee at Getty Images who felt like creating some scandal, but I’ll give the front office the benefit of the doubt. At any rate, having that photo circulate around the internet was the best PR gift the Minnesota Timberwolves could have ever received.
The reason that photo was so important is that these new jerseys are far from spectacular. Don’t get me wrong, they’re clean, sharp, and definitely a step in the right direction, but I doubt very many non-Wolves fans will be rushing to buy them as a fashion statement. If you had gone and shown me these photos two months ago, I would have been a little disappointed. However, the Kevin Love photo changed everything. I had spent the entire morning fearful of what the Wolves would reveal today. I was mentally preparing myself for a season of cheering on that eyesore and the media backlash that was soon to follow. The bar had been set so unbelievably low, that I actually found myself elated when I logged onto timberwolves.com this afternoon and found out that my worst fears hadn’t come true. Instead of being disappointed by these new jerseys, I’ve actually become quite thankful for them. This is exactly why the photo was pure PR genius.
I’m sure there’s several of you out there who were in the same camp as I was, in that you were hoping for a more old-school simplistic look from these new jerseys. While i still hold true to the belief that "less is more" when it comes to basketball jerseys, I don’t think the Wolves could have come up with a better segue into the third era of Timberwolves basketball than these uniforms. You see, they still hold enough of the look and feel of our 2nd jerseys to pay homage to the KG era that saved this team, but they clearly belong to the "here and now". They are clean and sharp and just scream of a new beginning in which Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, and the rest of our youngsters can make their own imprint on Timberwolves history. Like I said above, they may not be the ideal fashion statement, but they still manage to make a statement nonetheless. I for one can’t wait to see what our new group of Wolves can accomplish in these new threads.
And best of all, we can leave the sweaters to Kevin McHale!
Here’s some views of the backside of the jersey, courtesy of the Timberwolves new online shop!
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