Here is your first look at the Chinese jersey the #Rockets will wear this season. http://t.co/kLlrxk166H pic.twitter.com/RTAIVm6R7o
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) September 29, 2014
The Houston Rockets have been a very popular NBA team in China dating back to when Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were one of the more promising (if oft-injured) duos in the league. In order to acknowledge their strong foreign fan base, the Rockets will wear red sleeved jerseys with Chinese characters on them in February.
According to clutchfans.com, the Chinese jerseys will be worn three times in the coming season, all coinciding with the Lunar New Year:
The Rockets will wear a Chinese jersey this season to celebrate Lunar New Year, a source confirmed.
The team will wear the jersey for three straight home games, starting with the February 21st contest against Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors.
The China-focused marketing isn’t surprising at all considering the Rockets popularity in China and the NBA’s interest in expanding its popularity in the country. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has gone as far as to consider adding morning games to the NBA schedule to cater to China and other overseas audiences.
As for the jerseys themselves, they look… alright? The Chinese characters look nice but all that empty red space makes the jersey appear a little too plain. At the very least, they’re better than these uniforms/pajama tops from last season.
All in all, the Lunar New Year jersey is probably one of the more successful sleeved jersey efforts (not that that bar is incredibly high).
