On a night celebrating the Tyrese Maxey, on the heels of the five-year, $204 million deal the first-time All-Star recently agreed to, the Sixers kicked the festivities to the max(ey) by leaking their upcoming city edition jerseys.
With notable previous iterations, such as the spectrum edition jerseys in 2022-2023, the vastly underrated Rocky Balboa-inspired jerseys during the 2018-2019 season, and last season’s inspired by Philadelphia’s famous Reading Terminal Market, the Philadelphia 76ers have seemingly outdone themselves this year, unveiling a new black Iverson-era jersey.
As Philadelphia celebrates the past, present, and future of a guard who, similarly to Iverson, has captured the city’s heart, the team held a party in honor of their young superstar. This event featured a star-studded guest list, heartfelt video messages by Philly legend Dawn Staley and Maxey’s teammate Joel Embiid, and much more.
Included in all the festivities was a wall dedicated to every jersey Tyrese Maxey has worn as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. Every associate, icon, alternate, and city edition uniform, including Maxey’s All-Star uniform from this past season. One extra jersey made an appearance during the night as Maxey, when he was brought into the room highlighting his stellar career so far, was met by Sixers legend Julius Erving, who presented the young star with a very familiar-looking jersey custom-made to include Maxey’s name and number.
Even fans outside of Philadelphia recognized the uniform as the black jersey Allen Iverson made famous during his time with the Sixers. In addition to the jersey, a blown-up edition of SLAM magazine featuring Maxey in the Iverson-era threads was also on display. The cover of which reads: “The fans asked, & Philly answered – 76ers classic edition.”
A formal announcement has yet to be made, but the hints are pretty on the nose from Philadelphia. Any deviation from this path they have set themselves on could very well result in the destruction of the city, if not the fanbase.
Fans have clamored for years upon years for the Iverson-era black jerseys to make a comeback. For a time, back in 2020—coincidentally the year Maxey was drafted, it seemed fans would finally be getting their way. They were even pitched as such. When the big reveal came, the jerseys looked nothing like what Iverson had made internationally famous, celebrating boathouse row instead of the Sixers’ larger-than-life guard.
In previous years, though it was well-known throughout the area that a jersey inspired by the Iverson-era black uniform was in high demand, there was no desire to fulfill such an order, stemming from the Sixers’ former president Chris Heck, who openly stated that he “hated the uniform. That’s not an oversimplification or an overreaction. Heck quite literally went into an interview with Uni Watch and stated the following: “And I hated that uniform. Absolutely despised it.”
This season marks the perfect occasion to introduce such a design. Heck is no longer with the team, so there is no one standing in the way of its production, and far more important is the anticipation being built around the team.
With the return of Tyrese Maxey after establishing himself as an All-Star, Joel Embiid’s 2024 Olympic appearance with Team USA, and the addition of Paul George, which has created a brand new superstar Big 3, the excitement has perhaps never been higher around this team.
With immense hype comes immense pressure. Philadelphia must be ready to deliver on all this excitement surrounding the team, but they can only do so much to that end during the offseason. For now, celebrate with Maxey, cheer on Joel Embiid in Paris for the 2024 Olympics, and maybe even take in an episode of Podcast P with Paul George.
You can do all this while waiting for the debut of the 2024-2025 Philadelphia 76ers in their black Iverson-era-inspired city edition jerseys, which are expected to be among the most popular jerseys sold this season, assuming this is not the cruelest form of tease.
