10 Ugliest NBA All-Star Uniforms

The NBA All-Star games are a big to-do every year on the calendar. These games bring the National Basketball Association’s most talented stars to the grand stage, hence the name. With so many sizzling-hot athletes on the court, none of the teams want their star players to get injured. So, they tend to avoid injury through playing an attacking game with little focus on defense. The scores are typically close with very little daylight separating the teams. In recent years, the MVPs have featured  LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook. But we digress, we are only interested in the ugliest NBA All-Star uniforms, since they draw so much attention to these incredible performances.

* In 1995, the All-Star jersey reflected the spirit and nature of the host city of the All-Star game, Phoenix, Arizona. It's strange though that the NBA All-Star designers would pick a cartoon-style cactus set against an orange star with a white star on the bottom. True to form, the Jersey is a bit of an eyesore – perhaps it met expectations and drew attention to the horrid uniforms.

* In 2008, the All-Star game featured what can only be described as a bizarre rendition of the Wild West on its jerseys. We are sure that the text and imagery of the time was intended to be reminiscent of the old frontier days in the saloons with six shooters, good guys and bad hombres. In a way, these ugly uniforms actually don't look too bad but they're definitely never going to go mainstream.

* Next in line, let’s head off to the 2014 All-Star game in New Orleans. During this year, for an absolutely inane reason, designers thought that it would be a grand idea to wear sleeved jerseys.  Would you believe that? We think the idea is totally whack, and you likely will to. Perhaps these red and purple New Orleans jerseys had a positive impact on some players, but definitely not on the rest of us.

* The 2011 Los Angeles All-Star game was quite the spectacle. The NBA believed that players and fans alike would go absolutely gaga over the American gladiator-themed lettering on their jerseys. Suffice it to say, not too many people were enamored by this concept. Perhaps, the Los Angeles 2011 All-Star jerseys would look better on different types of athletes, but for basketball it missed the hoops every time.

* If you ever want to see a whacky looking NBA jersey, you've got it check out the 1996 All-Star game jersey. It's got some weird imagery just below the right armpit – either a basketball’s arm doing a bicep curl, or a saxophone drinking a mojito. It's hard to tell what the NBA All-Stars designers were thinking at the time. We do know that this jersey led to better things and that's a win-win.

* The year is 1988 and the NBA is hopping with the Aape Swingman Jersey All-Star. What do we think of it? Well, it’s very 1980s and that reminds us of oversized hairdos, lots of bright nail polish and yes, blue and red stars and stripes all over the gear. It’s a little weird to see now, but it was  in vogue at the time. Besides, Michael Jordan was in the game – so it couldn’t have disappointed too much!

* All-Star Game Jerseys for 2017… OMG! These are way out there, from some other galaxy perhaps. They look like the players are about to go back in time to the 1980s with Buck Rogers on a space adventure. Grey and white spacesuit-style jerseys are not the most attractive, but they may bring fans to their feet.

* Let’s get some Kobe Bryant in here! He made every uniform look great, even the ugly ones. The year is 2012 and it’s the Eastern Conference vs the Western Conference. Miami Heat vs LA Lakers which incidentally went the way of the Lakers by a margin of just 3 points (152-149). Perhaps the reason Miami lost was the distracting gear worn by their opposite numbers. The uniforms were ostentatious and geared towards lunar missions, or something.

* In 1977, the NBA all-star game between the Western Conference and Eastern Conference resulted in victory by a single point – 125-124. Of course, the Western Conference team headed by coach Larry Brown made magic happen. Like all great things from the 1970s that we consider ugly today, the All-Star uniform from that time was pretty gross. Tight-striped pants hiked all the way up, and tight T-shirts were the order of the day. What may appear to have been flattering at that time certainly misses the mark today.

* In the year 2000, the NBA All-Star uniform was a little too much. It was like wearing a purple flag and that doesn't resonate with many players today. The NBA all-style game took place in Oakland, California and thanks to Vince Carter, the game was won. You may need to wear some polarizing lenses to keep the glare of those purple uniforms away from your retinas!

There you have it folks, the 10 ugliest NBA All-Star uniforms of all time. We dug through plenty of wardrobes to pick out these 10, and you've got to admit – they're really ugly

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* Photo Accreditation to Chris O Meara and AP