The Detroit Pistons unveiled the team’s new Statement uniforms Wednesday after finding inspiration for the look from an unlikely source — a lengthy, passionate voicemail from a local fan whose words became the catalyst for the uniform change.

In November 2020, with the NBA season delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Detroit native Cochise Hardy, 38, was at home scrolling through Twitter when he decided that enough was enough. On his timeline, Hardy saw nearly every NBA organization except his favorite hometown team, the Detroit Pistons, reveal new uniforms. He was jealous.

Advertisement

Hardy was expecting the Pistons to spice things up. They were kickstarting a rebuild, having added three new first-round picks just weeks prior. Detroit had carried the same logo for decades. The uniforms, even with little tweaks here and there, never really deviated much from those of the franchise’s glory days. Hardy felt his team was growing stale.

“I’m like, ‘Those are fire. Those are fire. Those are fire.’,” Hardy told The Athletic. “I’m waiting for Detroit and they didn’t drop anything. I decided I was going to call them. I don’t remember if it was that night or that day, but I called and spilled my heart. It was time for an upgrade. This isn’t what’s up.”

Hardy took to Google to find a phone number for the Detroit Pistons. He found one, but no one answered. His voicemail was over a minute long. He pleaded with the organization to change things up, be more vibrant, and look, well, cooler.

The voicemail was heard by someone in the Pistons’ ticket-sales department. It made its rounds around the office. Many people laughed at Hardy’s passionate rant — which featured Detroit lingo like “dog-ass jerseys” — including Tyrel Kirkham, the Pistons’ vice president of brand and marketing strategy. However, Kirkham heard the love tucked inside the humor, and as the organization was preparing to mock up uniforms for the following seasons, Kirkham wanted everyone on his team to keep Hardy’s voicemail in mind.

“Oftentimes, you get these voicemails and you listen to them,” Kirkham said. “If there’s a call to action, you follow through, but there was something special about this voicemail that was worthy of pursuing further. It found its way to a larger audience. We laughed, but there was a serious nature based on what he was saying, knowing that we were starting the ‘restoration’ on the court, and the way we look and feel is equally as important.

Advertisement

“A ton of inspiration was spurred from a simple voicemail.”

Two years after Hardy’s rant, The Athletic has received early access to the Pistons’ new Statement uniform, which was inspired by the Detroiter’s passionate call for change. The uniform has a black base with two thick red-and-blue stripes that play off the “Bad Boys” era warmups.

“Knowing that red, white and blue are always going to be at the core of what we do, we wanted to find a way to add a different element,” Kirkham said. “A lot of the things Cochise brought up, adding black, creating a more vibrant view of red and blue … how could you complement that with a good, core color? Black was always something we wanted to figure out how to insert, but Cochise’s thoughts are what sparked the idea to add some type of element and not be a rinse and repeat of our grey uniform that was a carbon copy but a different color.”

The new Statement uniform has a two-year life span, at minimum. The franchise has the option to wear it beyond the 2023-24 season if the response is good. Additionally, there will be a separate court accompanying this uniform when the Pistons wear it, as will be the case with the newly-revitalized teal uniforms.

Both the Statement jerseys and teal uniforms will be available for purchase by the time the regular season begins.

As for Hardy, this jersey is exactly what he had in mind when he made that call two years ago.

“When Tyrel called me and told me that I inspired this jersey, I was like, ‘What!?’ It was like Ashton Kutcher calling me. I thought I was getting Punk’d,” Hardy said. “I like to win and look good while I’m doing. That’s Detroit. That’s what we do. When we go anywhere else, they recognize us. We have a different swag. We look good.

“These are fire.”

(Photo: Courtesy of the Pistons)