Oklahoma City Thunder change uniforms at halftime after mix-up with Atlanta Hawks

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Thunder wore orange, the Hawks wore red and the lack of contrast on the court became a problem that had to be solved. 

So Oklahoma City, the home team Friday night, ditched the orange and changed into its white uniforms at halftime. 

Call it a lack of communication. 

"The Hawks are wearing the incorrect uniform color for the game," a Thunder spokesman told The Oklahoman. "The league process of inputting uniform colors should have caught the orange/red combo, but because the Hawks only have red uniforms on the trip the Thunder will switch to white at the half." 

Oklahoma City led 63-55 at the break and went on to win 118-109.

FIRST HALF

SECOND HALF

Gone are the days when the home team always sported white and the road team wore its color. The home team now gets to choose its jersey for every game, and the road team picks a set that doesn’t match the home team.

Those selections are made public weeks in advance on the NBA’s LockerVision website. The situation Friday can be described as a glitch in the system. 

Thunder forward Kenrich Williams was asked where it ranked among the strangest situations of his NBA career. 

“It’s corona and then changing uniforms for sure,” he said. 

Williams could tell right away that the colors were too close. 

“You see somebody and it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s not my teammate,’” Williams said. 

But it didn’t seem to bother Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. 

"I certainly didn't notice it or even think about it to be honest with you,” Daigneault said. “It was a league mandate that we just reacted to. They made me aware of it at halftime. When I went into the locker room the guys were in white uniforms."