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Ben Simmons was finishing his first month as an active NBA player when he asked Philadelphia 76ers equipment manager Scott Rego who picked the team’s jerseys – and why the Sixers weren’t wearing black anymore. Simmons grew up in Australia with a poster of Allen Iverson wearing the black, red and gold uniforms the Sixers had worn for most of the decade – including their run to the Finals in 2001. Simmons wanted to wear them, too.
Rego told Simmons to take care of it with Chris Heck, the team president. Heck has lived in Philadelphia for over 30 years. He liked almost all about the Iverson era.
“The only thing that always drove me crazy was those silly black uniforms with red and gold,” Heck said. “How could we become the Pittsburgh Pirates?”
When Heck landed a job with the Sixers in 2013, he vowed to never bring back the black uniforms. He encountered opposition among the young employees of the team. Heck fought him for as long as he could, including designing the gray “Rocky”-themed alternatives the Sixers used last season, but he knew he would have to give in.
Simmons wouldn’t let him down.
“I took the initiative to bring back the black jersey,” Simmons told ESPN via email.
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