Myles Owens, founder of Raleigh, NC-based Educational Outfitters (asi/393000), coaches AAU basketball teams and helps with his son's middle school team. He recently designed a program for the team in which players, coaches and parents can order various logoed team apparel and other products. "With the team fee, the player gets the uniform and shooter shirt. For some programs we do two sets of uniforms and warm-up suits," he says. "Then we do a spirit pack for the players that they buy separately, and the coach requires that it come with an inexpensive, reversible practice jersey, a nice pair of moisture-wicking basketball shorts, like A4 or Badger, that they can wear when they're just hanging out and a T-shirt."

These products are great for players and parents to buy and help support the team. "We have a spiritwear order form that we created for the players and their parents to purchase other items. This is optional," Owens adds. "We offer a girls' cut T-shirt that sells well, hats, stadium seats and other imprinted products. We get a ton of orders from this."

Though it's been almost a decade since he retired from the NBA, Michael Jordan's imprint on basketball style is just as strong as ever. Three out of four basketball shoes sold today bear the famous Jordan "Jumpman" logo. Incidentally, when Jordan still played, Nike was fined $5,000 for every game he wore his Air Jordan sneakers because the NBA had banned the bright red color. The publicity that followed more than made up for all the fines, as Nike capitalized and grew its Jordan line into a multi-billion-dollar industry.

The fact that Air Jordans continue to sell briskly prove the power of brand names in basketball apparel. "Every major metropolitan area has at least two or three elite programs, and with them it's about the brand, they want Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Under Armour," says Mark Mertens, president of A4 Moshay (asi/30121). "These are things that help you close the sale, but there's no discussion if you can't meet their budget requirements. Most schools are in the same boat, they need value and service, but they want to give the kids something that looks like what the big guys wear."

Myles Owens, founder of Educational Outfitters (asi/393000), finds that the high school teams care a lot about the brand of their uniforms. "The middle schools are a lot less brand demanding and tend to be on a tighter budget, but at the high school level, they care what logo goes on there. One high school went for Under Armour for all their varsity sports."

	1. Boston Celtics. As iconic as they come. Everything is simple, clean and perfect – the Kelly Green, the Celtics wordmark, the shamrock on the back yoke. In a day and age when sports uniforms are saddled with extraneous piping and distracting elements, the Celts prove that less is definitely more.
2. Los Angeles Lakers. Can't stand all of their success, but the Lakers' unis are still the epitome of class. The modern tweaks they've made are pleasing (no more of that bulky '80s drop shadow). It goes to show just how well an unusual color scheme (what other professional sports team pairs purple and yellow?) can work, given time and success.
	3. Golden State Warriors. What a gorgeous update. The bridge crest smartly taps into the franchise's heritage. The blues and yellows work in harmony, and are darkened just a tad to avoid looking like UCLA-redux. Uniform-wise, the Warriors had lost their way in the past decade, but this new design instantly elevates them to the upper echelons of the league.
And One. University of North Carolina. Okay, I had to point out one college uniform. The Tar Heels set the standard at the collegiate level. Everything is iconic, from the Baby Blue to the argyle side panels. It may make Duke fans want to puke, but all college teams finish second when it comes to these basketball uniforms.