The Golden State Warriors debuted their new uniforms on Tuesday, and many fans had the same reaction when they first saw the design.
Golden State’s new jerseys, which Rakuten sponsors, use a different color scheme than what you may expect when you think of the Warriors. These uniforms have a much darker blue than fans are accustomed to seeing from the reigning champions.
While these are only the “Statement Edition” uniforms, which means they won’t be a regular fixture for Golden State, it’s still a surprising choice for the Warriors.
Take a look and see if they remind you of anything:
The Bay's team stays reppin'@Rakuten || Statement Edition pic.twitter.com/1loEmL0Vua
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) August 2, 2022
If you were like me, you immediately thought of UC Berkeley. These reminded me a lot of the California Bears uniforms, which at least makes some sense because they’re one of the closest colleges to the Warriors in the Bay Area.
Even the official Twitter account for Cal Men’s Basketball agreed:
We’re digging the new look, @warriors! 😉 pic.twitter.com/EdWNx1XJLM
— Cal Basketball (@CalMBBall) August 2, 2022
But many fans also associated this with the University of Michigan.
There is a reason why some people see the similarity, though. Both schools have the same shade of blue, Pantone 282, in their official brand guides. You can see Cal’s here and Michigan’s here.
Golden State guard Jordan Poole played college basketball for Michigan, so lots of fans made the same joke about how he may have had an influence in the design process:
