Please explain..... why do basketball teams wear white at home?

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Fred314X

It was done originally because there wasn't any such thing as color TV 60 years ago; with one team wearing white, it was easy to tell the two teams apart on a black-and-white screen. I'm not sure why it was the home team that wore white, though.

That makes sense,
but come on, it's been 50 years since that.

[Fred314X]

^ What can I tell you? It's remained in effect. There may not be any reason to continue the practice any more, but it's still done.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by Fred314X

It was done originally because there wasn't any such thing as color TV 60 years ago; with one team wearing white, it was easy to tell the two teams apart on a black-and-white screen. I'm not sure why it was the home team that wore white, though.

Actually, the home team wore white so that the fans would see different colors on the field/court with each game. The home team always wore white, and the visiting team wore a darker color. As the visiting teams changed, so did the colors.

In baseball, home whites originated because the home team had better access to laundry facilities; the visiting team wore grey so that the dirt wouldn't show up so much on their uniforms from day to day.

The home team not wearing white is a very recent thing.

[Mr. GE]

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_(sports)

Additionally, in baseball and basketball, the home team will typically choose to wear the lighter colored version of its uniform. In fact, many teams have a home uniform which is mostly white and referred to as the "home whites".The road team will generally wear a version of its uniform with one of the darker of its official colors as the main color, or in baseball with a grey main color referred to as the "road greys". In American football and hockey, the home team tends to wear uniforms that feature their team colors, whereas the visiting team will wear white or a lighter color.

The term "home whites" originated in the early days of Major League Baseball. Typically the visiting team had no access to laundry facilities and thus the players were unable to clean their uniforms on the road. By wearing grey or another dark color the visiting team was better able to conceal the dirt and grass stains that had accumulated on their uniforms over the course of the series. The home team, having access to laundry facilities, was able to wear clean white uniforms each day, hence the term "home whites".

[Dopo]

I understand,
but come on, it's been over 50 years since that was the case.
They can't tell me that that's the reason for doing it.

[Mr. GE]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I understand,
but come on, it's been over 50 years since that was the case.
They can't tell me that that's the reason for doing it.

Not for all but that's the "general" reason yes... It's called tradition

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I'm a soccer and basketball in soccer, the home team always wears their "First" jersey when they play at home, which make sense to me since most fans in the stadium are going to be wearing the same color.

Why is it that in basketball teams wear white (the "other" jersey) at home?

By the way, that is NOT always the case in NCAA basketball in the lower divisions.

In some leagues, schools will play "back to back" games on successive days. On Friday, the home team wears the "away" uniforms at home and the away team wears the "home" uniforms.

I will admit that it threw me for a couple of minutes.