Geoff Case has always doodled Mavericks jerseys. The Dallas native has been doing it for years, dating all the way back to his high school days, when he’d scribble down an idea in a notebook.
But what seems like a quirky hobby turned out to be a pretty significant talent. Last May, Mavs proprietor Mark Cuban took to his blog to encourage fans to create an alternate jersey for his team. Case figured “what the heck?” and immediately entered his idea — a spec that took three days (and a lot of listening to Kanye West). And he wasn’t alone. More than 1,000 other entries made their way to Cuban, with 772 coming from crowdSpring, a marketplace for custom logo design and web design specializing in crowdsourcing.
More than a year later, Case’s idea was selected by fan vote as the Mavs’ next alternate jersey.
“I’m still pinching myself, really,” Case said after the unis were unveiled at the team’s introductory press conference on Tuesday. “This is my favorite team on the face of the planet. And to have something associated with that team and their legacy is unbelievable.”
The jerseys prominently feature the Dallas skyline, which was recently voted best of its kind in the world. The Mavericks will initially wear only the blue-colored uniforms but will eventually add a home white and alternate green/blue design to the team’s arsenal. The jerseys won’t be rolled out until the 2015-16 season, but merchandise is already on sale at The Hangar-Victory Plaza.
“We wanted to do something different for a future jersey,” Cuban said before unveiling the design. “We became the first team to ever crowdsource a real, in-game jersey.”
Case said his design idea was inspired by his love for the team, and the team’s love for the city. “I thought there was a correlation there between the success not just on the court, but the success in businesses in Downtown, Uptown, and all the surrounding areas,” he said. “So as the Mavericks had success on the court, everybody else experienced success off the court.”
Case is a Dallas resident and has rooted for the Mavericks for almost his entire life. His fandom became an obsession in the early-’00s — as it did for many young Mavs fans — as the team became the must-see attraction in the NBA.
“I was always a fan, but it really took it to the next level during the Dirty, Nashty, Filthy era,” he said. “That’s when coming Downtown became cool again.”
It’s no surprise, then, that he used the skyline as the main attraction on his jersey design. The city is as important to him as the team, and the team feels the same way about the city and its fans.
“Imagine Tyson Chandler coming down and throwing down the sickest alley-oop you can think of, just right on Tim Duncan’s face,” Case said during the press conference, teasing rival San Antonio’s star. “And as he’s coming down, what better way to rep the fans and the people cheering fro him than to pull up the front of the jersey and rep the city?”
The contest process narrowed down more than 1,000 entries to just 10 and then to one winner based on fan vote last summer. Case said he was in Las Vegas on business when his father gave him a call letting him know his design was one of the 10 finalists. And not only is his design going to come to life; crowdSPRING awarded him a $1,000 check and the Mavericks gave him season tickets this year.
Fan of the design? Pick up your T-shirt exclusively at The Hangar — Victory Park, the Mavs’ new 2,800 square foot stand-alone retail space located in AT&T Plaza.
Share and comment