A familiar source revealed that the Indiana Pacers will wear Hardwood Classic Edition uniforms during the upcoming season as they celebrate their 60th season as a franchise and the 50th anniversary of the ABA-NBA merger.
Instagram user @__2hands_shop__ posted a photo of royal blue shorts that replicate their 1971-74 road design, with a gold and white striping pattern down the right side and their 1976-90 ball in “P” logo on the left leg.
The jersey will presumably have matching details, with the stripes up the right side until a single gold stripe wraps around the arm holes. There will also be a white “Indiana” wordmark on the chest above gold numbers outlined in white.
The Pacers previously wore the white home version during the 2003-04 season to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their 1973 ABA championship and the royal blue road design in 2011-12 to mark the ABA’s 45th anniversary.
Founded in 1967, the Pacers were originally part of the American Basketball Association until they, the Denver Nuggets, New York (now Brooklyn) Nets and San Antonio Spurs joined the NBA in 1976 as part of the aforementioned merger. They notably won three league titles in 1970, 1972 and 1973.
If the Pacers’ leak is any indication, there may be additional teams that wear ABA-era Hardwood Classic uniforms next season. After all, the Nets, Nuggets, Spurs, Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets), Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves also wore throwback uniforms in 2003-04.
Those designs were either from the team’s past or were originally worn by the former ABA franchise in their geographic region, including the Bobcats (Carolina Cougars), Clippers (Los Angeles Stars), Grizzlies (Memphis Tams), Heat (Miami Floridians), Timberwolves (Minnesota Muskies) and Spurs (Texas Chaparrals).
Photos courtesy of @__2hands_shop__ on Instagram.