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The Wizards' new 'Baltimore Pride' uniforms bring back Bullets' racing stripe, add sleeves

Dan Devine
·Senior NBA writer

The Washington Wizards officially unveiled their entry in the NBA's "Pride" uniform collection on Wednesday, confirming the design that had been included in a massive leak of mockups that made its way online back in July:

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Yep — they're red, they're sleeved, and they bring back the three-wide racing-stripe wave pattern that the Baltimore Bullets wore from 1969 through 1973.

Here's what the Wiz have to say about their "Baltimore Pride" kits, which join the Charlotte Hornets' "Buzz City" alternates, the New Orleans Pelicans' Mardi Gras uniforms and the Houston Rockets' "Clutch City" uniforms in this year's Pride collection:

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The Washington Wizards will celebrate their special relationship with the city of Baltimore by wearing Baltimore Pride uniforms for six select games during the season. The uniform pays homage to the uniform worn by the Baltimore Bullets from 1969-73, updating the color scheme to the Wizards’ current red, white and blue.

The Wizards will also honor the organization’s proud past with the addition of a display featuring all of the uniforms in franchise history. A narrative highlighting historical facts and pictures will also be included. Fans will have their first chance to see the new display at the Wizards’ preseason game on Oct. 6 against the Philadelphia 76ers. The display will be located on the concourse outside of section 112.

The Wizards franchise called Charm City home beginning in 1963, playing as the Bullets at the Baltimore Civic Center and featuring future Hall of Famers Walt Bellamy and Gus Johnson. Fellow Hall of Famers Earl Monroe (1967-71), Wes Unseld (1968-73) and Elvin Hayes (1972-73) also were part of the Baltimore franchise before the team relocated to Landover, Md., prior to the 1973-74 season.

(For the record: the Indiana Pacers referred to their "Hickory High" threads as "Pride" uniforms, but they're listed on July's uniform leak as "Hardwood Classics Nights" throwback editions. The Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings are all expected to unveil sleeved Pride unis, too.)

I dig the idea of saluting the franchise's Baltimore past, and I think the red, white and blue color scheme looks like a pretty clean replacement for the Bullets' orange, white and blue, which the Wiz wore in a cap-doffing throwback during the 2005-06 season. The sleeves ... well, that's well-trodden territory, at this point. I'm not a fan, and a lot of you don't seem to be, either, but Adidas and the NBA have long since committed to the argument that lots of people who aren't us like them. Fair enough. We'll see if Nike continues to skate in that lane when they take over the league apparel deal in two seasons' time.

Beyond that, you might quibble with the placement of the Wizards' updated logo on the chest. It kind of calls to mind the club badges on soccer players' uniforms, which is neat, but because it's lower and circular, it makes it look sort of like John Wall's wearing No. 20 and Bradley Beal's wearing No. 30, only sort of overly stylized and off-kilter. Otherwise, though, it seems like a pretty decent marriage of old and new; if you've got to get into the sleeve game, this doesn't seem like the worst way to do it.

The Wizards will wear the Baltimore Pride uniforms six times this season, all coming on their home court at the Verizon Center — on Dec. 19, against the Charlotte Hornets; on Jan. 16, against the Boston Celtics; on Jan. 23, against the Utah Jazz; on Jan. 28, against the Denver Nuggets; on March 5, against the Indiana Pacers; and on March 19, against the New York Knicks.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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