Designed for dominance, inspired by legacy.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 20, 2019
Introducing this year's City Edition Uniform by @SHAQ. pic.twitter.com/MbJUcKFVsh
On Wednesday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers unveiled the new City Edition uniform for the 2019-20 season. Unlike other teams that take inspiration for their city/community, the Lakers City Edition uniforms honor the team’s legendary players, which they call the Lakers Lore Series.
After starting with Kobe Bryant’s “Black Mamba” uniform in 2017 and Magic Johnson’s uniform last season, this season’s look focuses on Shaquille O’Neal. The Shaq designed uniform looks similar to the pre-LeBron James Lakers’ gold home uniforms at first, but there are some special touches Shaq included.
The letters “MDE” are on the white trim of the uniform for the “Most Dominant Ever”. To honor the other Lakers greats, Shaq added stars to the side panels of the uniform with the Lakers’ retired numbers.
“It means a lot to me to have the retired numbers on the side of the jersey. It was what motivated me. … When I was designing the uniforms, I don’t want people to forget about the other greats. I want to recognize them, to also thank them,” said Shaq.
As a tribute to the late Lakers owner Jerry Buss, the waistband says “Dr. Buss”. Shaq said, “Playing for him was one of the best highlights of my life… Dr. Buss will always be forever in my heart and that’s why when I created this new uniform, I wanted people to see that. I wanted his name to be remembered!”
