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Image: adidas' NBA Revolution strips

There was a time when NBA clothing was THE thing for teenagers to be seen in. Never mind two front teeth, all I wanted for Christmas back in the early 1990s was a Phoenix Suns Starter jacket (remember them? The ones which had a giant pocket on the front that you had to pull over your heads?). Fashion has, thankfully, changed since then, and so too has the NBA. Gone are the likes of Horace Grant, a sportsman who became synonymous with his funky spectacles long before Edgar Davids started wearing them, Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing, who himself had his own line of trainers, and, the most famous of them all, Michael Jordan. Now the stars of today are wearing adidas' NBA Revolution strips - the lightest and most technologically advanced basketball uniforms ever seen in the history of the game. But there's much more to these jerseys than just looking the part (here comes the science bit). They are now 30 percent lighter and, as a result of adidas Cimacool fabrics, absorb moisture in less than three seconds, thus meaning they dry twice as fast as previous NBA uniforms. The technically-advanced fabric moves heat and sweat away from the body through a combination of moisture management materials, ventilation channels and three dimensional garments, keeping the players cooler in the heat of battle on the hardwood. Also able to help protect athletes from injury thanks to TECHFIT padded and PowerWeb compression base layers, the uniforms were tested by more than 200 NBA players over a four-year period. Thankfully the jerseys are not just for those fans across the pond. For the first time British basketball lovers can also now access authentic on-court kit worn by all 450+ NBA players and all 30 NBA teams. They hit the stores just days before the NBA came to London's O2 Arena with the reigning champions the LA Lakers taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of NBA Europe Live. With regular season games also set to be staged in Europe for the first time, it appears basketball could be about to enjoy another boom period in Britain. So while you might not know the ins and outs of the triangle offence, or be able to name another Chicago Bulls player apart from 'Air' Jordan, at least now you can look the part thanks to adidas' hard work. And, in case you're wondering, I never did get that jacket. Perhaps Santa thought purple wasn't really my colour.
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