The Cavaliers Switched Back To Black For The Finals

As jersey debuts go, the Cleveland Cavaliers Nov. 4, 2016, game in its all-black sleeved alternate uniforms was nearly as bad as the Cleveland Browns getting trounced by the New York Jets 31-10 wearing orangier orange in last year’s NFL opener. The Cavs at least came from behind to beat the New York Knicks, but LeBron James’ sleeve-tearing escapade in the second quarter got all the buzz. But even jerseys can be redeemed. For Game 5, the Cavs ditched the navy threads they’d been wearing in every road game of the playoffs in favor of the sleeved black uniform. “They were looking to shake things up,” says Tracy Marek, the team’s chief marketing officer. “You could see that they were working really hard to shift the energy and clearly, they did.” Using the sleeves’ psychological boost, the Cavs wrestled back momentum from the Warriors and closed the series out to vanquish Cleveland’s title hex. “It’s part of the folklore,” Marek says. “I think that’s fun.”