Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
The Atlanta Falcons and the Atlanta Hawks swapped uniforms in this concept.
Birds of a feather flock together in The ATL forever and always.
The Atlanta Falcons and the Atlanta Hawks have had long and frustrating histories of not bringing home league championships to the Dirty South, but the city’s NFL and NBA team certainly have a cool factor about them. From Deion Sanders and Dominique Wilkins back in the day to Julio Jones and Trae Young in the present time, these southeastern winged brethren are uniquely Atlanta.
And so are their controversial uniforms. The Hawks went with the torch red, granite grey and volt green during their new concepts ahead of the 2015-16 NBA season. This offseason, the Dirty Birds went for a wholesale change themselves, including the highly controversial gradient look that fades from red to black. But what if the Falcons and the Hawks swapped uniforms?
The Hawks official account tweeted out EnriqueProduction‘s renderings that were shown on ESPN’s SportsCenter of Jones in the Hawks’ granite grey thread and Young in the red-to-black gradients. Both Atlanta superstars wear the No. 11 jersey and are their team’s best players. It was a natural fit, but what should we think about this mind-blowing uniform concept swap?
The Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Hawks swap uniforms and change the world.
With Young in the gradient, it’s actually easier on the eyes than on a football jersey. We’ve seen some absurd uniform concepts in the NBA before, so nothing’s really shocking there. Because red and to some extent black are part of the Hawks’ color scheme, Young pulls this off very well.
It was a tad more risqué to put Jones in granite grey with torch red and volt green accents, but as stated before, Jones looks good in any Falcons uniform you put on him. All-blacks or the NBA-inspired concept, we’re all in. The only thing that may take some adjusting here is the wing on the helmet. It’s not the familiar version of either F in the shape of a falcon like we’re used to. It works.
Though we’ll never see Young in the gradient or Jones in some granite grey, we will always have this graphic to look at. What really stands out is most Atlanta teams embrace red and black as parts of their color scheme. This includes the MLS’ Atlanta United FC, but not the MLB’s Atlanta Braves, who go with navy blue over black. Add in falcons and hawks being birds, there you go.
If the Falcons and Hawks had to swap jerseys, stars like Jones and Young would still look good.