Every club in the NBL has its own official colours, and plenty of them come with a story. Some nod to a mascot, some to a city, and one is widely linked to an entire NBA dynasty. Here's what all 10 NBL clubs wear, and the stories behind the colours where there is one.

NBL Team Colours at a Glance

NBL Team Colours at a Glance

The Stories Behind the Colours

Some of the league's identities go back to the very beginning. Illawarra Hawks and Brisbane Bullets were both there when the NBL launched in 1979. Illawarra is the only club to have played every single season since, and its black, red and white is one of the most recognisable looks in the competition. Brisbane's blue and gold has a long history too, even though the Bullets sat out the league between 2008 and 2016 before returning. Adelaide 36ers joined in 1982, and their navy, red, gold and white has been part of South Australian basketball ever since.

A couple of clubs built their identity around their names. Cairns Taipans, named after one of the world's most venomous snakes, wear a bold orange and navy that suits their Far North Queensland home. Down south, the Tasmania JackJumpers take their name from the island's famously aggressive jack jumper ant, and they pair it with a teal, green and orange palette that feels distinctly Tasmanian.

Melbourne's two clubs both show how a club can start again. Melbourne United took on navy, cobalt, white and grey when it rebranded from the Melbourne Tigers in 2014. S.E. Melbourne Phoenix wear black, green and grey, under a name built on the idea of rising again.

Over on the west coast, the Perth Wildcats have made red and black synonymous with winning. They've won 10 NBL championships, the most of any club in the league. Across the Tasman, the New Zealand Breakers, the competition's only club based outside Australia, wear black, sky blue and white.

That brings us to the Sydney Kings. Since forming in 1988, they've worn purple and gold, the same combination made famous by the Los Angeles Lakers during their 1980s "Showtime" era. The link between the two gets drawn often, and it's hard to miss.

Why Team Colours (and Kit Design) Actually Matter

Colour is doing more work than people realise. A jersey is often the first thing a fan, a scout, or an opposing team registers, and a consistent, well-chosen colour scheme is what makes a club instantly recognisable, season after season. It's part of why the Sydney Kings' purple-and-gold story is such a good one the colours were picked deliberately to borrow some of that Lakers identity from day one, not just settled on by accident.

The same thinking applies at club level, whatever competition you're playing in. When you're designing a kit through C2C's Design Your Own tools, you're not limited to whatever's already out there you can build a Custom Basketball Jersey around your own club colours, experiment with creative modern themes like gradients or bold modern typography, and preview exactly how it looks in 3D before committing to an order. Getting that identity right early tends to matter a lot more once a club has been wearing the same colours for a decade.

Frequently Asked Questions

What colours does each NBL team wear? Each of the league's 10 clubs has its own official colour scheme, ranging from the Perth Wildcats' red and black to the Sydney Kings' purple and gold see the full list above.

Why did the Sydney Kings choose purple and gold? The club deliberately adopted the colours as a nod to the Los Angeles Lakers' dominant NBA dynasty of the 1980s when it was formed.

Do NBL teams have separate home and away jersey colours? Yes. Like most professional basketball leagues, NBL clubs typically wear a primary home colourway and a contrasting away design, alongside occasional special-edition kits throughout the season.

Can my own team use a similar colour scheme for custom uniforms? Yes. Custom uniform platforms let you build a kit around any colour combination you choose, whether that's inspired by an NBL club or entirely your own.

What's the easiest way to design a jersey with my club's own colours? Using an online design tool that lets you customise colours, logos, and player details in real time, with a preview before you order, removes most of the guesswork.

Build a Kit Around Your Own Club Colours

Whatever identity your club is building, C2C makes it simple to create custom uniforms that actually look like yours. Design a Custom Reversible Basketball Jersey or full Custom Team Uniforms with the free Design Your Own tool, or browse the Basketball collection for more Custom Basketball Kits to see what's possible.