Cleveland Cavaliers Unveil 2024-25 Nike NBA City Edition Uniform

 Donovan Mitchell grew up as a two-sport athlete who might’ve gone pro in baseball. On Wednesday night in Philly, he was Cleveland’s closer – scoring 11 of his 23 points in the final 2:52 as the Wine and Gold stayed perfect, gutting out a 114-106 win over the shorthanded Sixers. With the victory, the Cavs became just the sixth team in NBA history to start a season 13-0 or better.

 The East’s reigning Player of the Week, Darius Garland, led four Cavs in double-figures with 25 points, going 10-of-16 from the floor to go with six assists and five boards. Jarrett Allen notched his eighth double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Evan Mobley chipped in with 14 points and seven boards in the win. 

The Cavs got 32 combined points from their second unit, with three players connecting on two triples apiece, to help overcome a sluggish start that saw them trailing a scrappy Sixers squad missing Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey. 

*** Donovan Mitchell barely missed his first career triple-double – finishing with 23 points, a game-high 13 boards, a team-high nine assists and a pair of steals. The five-time All-Star was 9-of-21 from the floor, including 5-of-13 from deep. The Wine and Gold are now 37-5 (.822) in Mitchell’s last 45 regular season starts since January 1. 

*** Caris LeVert came into Wednesday’s game as the NBA’s leader in (+/-) at +131 and was the only Cavs reserve with a positive number (+6), finishing with seven points, three assists and three boards. Ty Jerome came in with the league’s highest shooting percentage off the bench (.608) and went 2-of-2 from deep, 3-of-4 from the floor overall.  Georges Niang canned a pair of three-pointers and finished with eight points. 

*** Wednesday’s win also ties the franchise mark for longest win streak at any point in the season – matching 13-game runs from March 2009, January-February 2010 and November-December 2017. Kenny Atkinson already owns the record for best mark to start a season with a new team. On Wednesday, he tied Lawrence Frank (who ran off 13 straight after replacing Byron Scott with the Nets in 2004) for the best start to a career with a new team. 

Cleveland Cavaliers Unveil 2024-25 Nike NBA City Edition Uniform Design Inspired by the Cleveland Museum of Art

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have unveiled their 2024-25 Nike NBA City Edition uniform, a wearable canvas celebrating Cleveland’s visual arts and inspired by the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cavaliers will debut the newest installment of the City Edition uniform along with the specially designed City Edition home court on Sunday, November 17 at 6:00 p.m. against the Charlotte Hornets. 

The Nike NBA City Edition collection is a league-wide initiative created to honor the inherent bond between court, community and culture. Each team introduces a different City Edition uniform every season that represents the stories, history and heritage that make their franchise unique.

THE INSPIRATION

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), located in Cleveland’s Wade Park District of University Circle,  is one of the world’s premier art museums, most distinguished and comprehensive art museums and one of northeast Ohio’s most important principal civic and cultural institutions. Renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, the museum holds more than 66,500 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The CMA’s rich schedule of special exhibitions and programs provides new and everchanging opportunities to ensure that all audiences can see themselves in their museum, as well as discover the art and culture of traditions outside of their own. Free of charge to all, the museum’s mission is to create transformative experiences through art “for the benefit of all the people forever.” The museum is also committed to serving and positively impacting communities in Cleveland, the state of Ohio and beyond through the power of art and art education.

"Art and sport are two powerful forms of human expression, and this is a great opportunity to highlight all the ways that they both inspire and connect people from every walk of life," said Todd Mesek, Chief Marketing Officer at the Cleveland Museum of Art. "This partnership not only celebrates the great traditions that connect us, but also the opportunities we have to inspire the next generation.”

THE UNIFORM DESIGN

The uniform prominently features the team’s traditional City Edition phrase “The LAND” with this year’s look drawing inspiration from the architecture of the west wing of the Cleveland Museum of Art and its logo. The uniform also features a two-tone blue design with contrasting shades of the color found on the front and back. The lighter blue canvas of the front of the jersey takes inspiration from the museum’s iconic shade, while the darker blue on the back is representative of the Cavaliers blue first debuted in 1994. Framing “The LAND,” the famous Nike swoosh logo is positioned on the upper right chest with a Cleveland-Cliffs patch on the upper left.

This year’s uniform is unique in that it doubles as an interactive art piece. The most distinctive feature of the design is the “torn-away pieces” found on the side panels of the jersey and shorts that reveal a coloring book pattern underneath. The pattern features iconic Cleveland motifs and symbols along with Cavaliers artwork. The pattern encourages fans of all ages to customize their own jerseys by coloring in the symbols. This unique aspect transforms each jersey into a potential masterpiece, allowing fans to express their creativity and personal connection to the team. The “DESIGNED BY” jocktag prompts fans to insert their own name, empowering them to become artists themselves and highlighting the artistic customization aspect of these jerseys. 

“This year’s Nike NBA City Edition jersey honors the rich culture of visual arts in Cleveland,” said Chris Kaiser, Chief Marketing Officer for the Cleveland Cavaliers. “It was designed to take fans back to where most of them first encountered art – through coloring books and paint-by-numbers – while connecting them to a beloved Cleveland institution. This year’s uniform transforms each of its designers into artists and its models into living works of art.” 

THE HOME COURT DESIGN

A special City Edition Court has been designed to accompany the team’s uniform during designated City Edition games throughout the season. 

The City Edition home court incorporates the same torn-away coloring book pattern as the uniform. The left side of the hardwood floor is accented in light blue and the right side in a darker blue. At halfcourt, “The Land” Logo is displayed, complementing the design on the chest of the uniform. 

“Cleveland” is featured on the left baseline, with “Cavaliers” on the right baseline. The Cavaliers LET EM KNOW mantra is found on the west sideline. The Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse logo is displayed on either side of the halfcourt, along with the CAVS logo, which is featured within the three-point arc.  In addition, several other Cavaliers partners have prominent placement on the hardwood, including the logo of Cleveland-Cliffs on the left and right baselines, as well as Betway on the east sideline.