There will be a slight tweak to the jerseys of some specific NBA players for the opening night of the 2025-26 season. Award winners from the 2024-25 season will be recognized with a unique gold Logoman patch on their jersey, which will only be present for the first game of the year.

Winners of the MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year will be honored with a special jersey patch of their respective trophies just above the Nike swoosh on the front of the uniform. As such, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous Alexander (MVP), Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (DPOY) and Spurs guard Stephon Castle (ROTY) will all have the custom patch on their jersey on opening night.

There will also be patches on the uniforms of players who made the All-NBA, All-Defense and All-Rookie teams in 2024-25.

Individual awards will be prioritized over all others, so, for example, Gilgeous-Alexander, who won MVP and made the league's All-NBA first team will don the MVP patch and not the All-Pro one.

Additionally, all NBA rookies will wear a different patch, which commemorates their debuts in the league.

Finally, award-winning coaches and executives will also be recognized for their achievements. Reigning NBA Coach of the Year, Cavaliers’ Kenny Atkinson, and Executive of the Year, Thunder‘s Sam Presti, will wear lapels celebrating their accomplishments.

Why do some NBA players have special patches on their uniforms?

The idea of inserting special patches onto specific players' uniforms was first introduced in 2022.

“We wanted to shine a little bit of a light on what those trophies are, what they look like and give those players a little moment. Now, do I think at the first game of the year they’re all gonna get out there and get a standing ovation? Maybe not,”Christopher Arena, head of the NBA’s on-court and brand partnerships said, via ESPN.

”But they’re gonna walk in that day, they're gonna see that trophy patch on their jersey and they’re gonna remember that that's what they did and maybe it’s motivation for that one night.”

In total, 35 players will wear the special award patches, in addition to the entire rookie class which will wear the "debut" patches.

Every NBA player who will have a special patch on their jersey

A total of 35 players will wear the NBA's special awards patches during their first game of the year. Those players will receive a uniform to keep as their own, though the 35 game-worn jerseys will be auctioned at Sotheby's.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Some NBA Players Have Special Jersey Patches to Open Season.