NBA reportedly didn’t like Nets’ black jerseys because African-Americans don’t look good on TV in black

The New York Times has a feature on Jay-Z’s involvement as a minority owner of the Brooklyn Nets, but there’s one particular nugget from the story that is more noteworthy than the others.

While depicting some areas where the rapper/businessman has impacted the franchise, reporter David M. Halbfinger slips in this controversial detail:

[Jay-Z] helped design the team logos and choose the team’s stark black-and-white color scheme, and personally appealed to National Basketball Association officials to drop their objections to it (the N.B.A., according to a person with knowledge of the discussion, thought that African-American athletes did not look good on TV in black, an assertion that a league spokesman adamantly denied).

It’s no wonder why the NBA would deny such a charge. I also don’t think a reputable publication like the New York Times would allow such a controversial anecdote to be printed unless it were well sourced.

The NBA is extraordinarily business-conscious, so they obviously care about how their product looks on TV. I wouldn’t ever expect them to confirm the story, but it’s interesting that it’s out there.

I actually think the Nets’ new logos and color scheme look excellent and am glad it was approved.

H/T I am a GM