The Lithuanian Basketball Federation has come a long way in two decades, from needing the Grateful Dead’s help in funding their Olympic trip to Barcelona in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union, to becoming a fixture at the top of the FIBA rankings. (They currently sit at number 4.) Today, they take another step away from the salad days — sartorially, anyway — unveiling the new Nike Lithuania basketball uniforms for the 2014-15 season.
And yet, the team still embraces their past, as both the home and away kits — bold green and crisp white — feature the country’s coat-of-arms in an Aerographic, along with graphic elements inspired by the team’s Dead-influenced tie-dyed days.
Further, gold accents grace both uniforms, along with green details on the white set, each an homage to great Lithuanian teams of the past.
It’s no tie-dye, but it represents a fitting best-of-both-worlds style; an homage to the past in a modernized aesthetic.