Timberwolves fans react to surprising new city edition jerseys

Fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves have been eagerly awaiting the release of the team’s new city edition uniforms for the 2023-24 season, and now the wait is finally over. After rumors that the design would drop this weekend, the Timberwolves officially unveiled the new concept at a special event.

Hosting the unveiling at Lord Fletcher’s Old Lake Lodge, the team strategically chose a location on Lake Minnetonka. That is because the new city edition jersey is inspired by Minneapolis’ neighboring lake.

The new jersey features a blue base that fades to white near the top, giving off the effect of a water-based gradient. The word “Minnesota” is boldly displayed across the front, with the jersey numbers off-centered to the right.

The team created a whole event out of the jersey unveiling, with Mike Conley and Naz Reid riding in on a boat to make their grand entrance. Minnesota-born rapper Yung Gravy was also on hand to give a performance at the jersey reveal.

After news of the new uniforms went public, Timberwolves fans took to social media to give their takes on the design. Many feel that the team set a high bar with the 2021-22 city edition jerseys that they have not been able to reach since.

A large number of Wolves fans would agree that the fanbase was hoping for a design similar to this, with some element of the green tree trim that has become such a proud symbol for the franchise. Instead, the team opted for a design that highlighted a specific component of life in Minnesota.

This is the same approach the Wolves took when designing last year’s city jerseys, which were not kindly received by the fanbase. Some had harsher reactions to the new Lake Minnetonka uniforms than others.

It is safe to say that many were optimistic the Timberwolves had heard everyone’s complaints of last year’s city jersey, and would possibly be releasing a design that would complement the franchise’s rich history of excellent jerseys. To some, this feels like a letdown.

But to others, the new jerseys are a nice refresh from last season.

One thing is for certain, and that is the fact that this design is an extremely original one. Fans will choose to like it or not, but at the very least, no other teams have really tried to pull off this water-inspired style before.

It is a uniform that accurately pays homage to summer lake life in Minnesota. For what it is worth, the jersey very successfully does what it sets out to do. For those that were hoping for tree trim, perhaps we will be seeing something of the like a year from now.