For the first time in league history, the NBA will allow players to wear sneakers of any color at any time during the upcoming season, league sources confirmed.

The change of rules is part of the NBA's ongoing effort to allow its players to be expressive on the court.

Last season, the first year of Nike in the manufacture of uniforms for the 30 teams, several alternative jersey designs and the elimination of traditional white jerseys that are only used for home games were added. The teams were at their own discretion to designate their house and road jersey colors; The Chicago Bulls opted to use red for all home games, for example.

As part of Swoosh's eight-year, one-billion-dollar deal to equip the NBA, Nike has been aggressive in amplifying the looks of teams and players throughout the league. Nearly 67 percent of the players wore Nike footwear or its affiliate Jordan Brand last season.

For much of the NBA's 72-year history, the footwear worn by all its players has gone through a series of variable restrictions. Historically, all of a team's sneakers had a 51 percent black or white limit, plus a minimum color accent per team, depending on the team they were receiving or visiting.

During the 1984-85 season, Michael Jordan received a famous warning letter forbidding his black and red Air Jordan 1 shoes. Nike turned the tough test into a marketing campaign for his debut signing shoe and never looked back. The Jordan brand now reaches $ 3 billion annually in revenue.

In the late 2000s, shoes with full team colors were allowed throughout the league, meaning that Bulls players could wear all red shoes or the Boston Celtics could wear all green, as well as white or black

In 2012, the league added 'Themed Nights' to its calendar, working in conjunction with a variety of sneaker companies to create narrative shoes for parties and other occasions such as Christmas, Veterans Day and African American History Month. During the NBA Finals and on the night of a team's championship ring to start the season, shoes with a golden accent were also allowed. In total, 10 nights theme of sneakers throughout the season were scheduled for the regular schedule of the regular season.

As players continue to increase their inclination to wear flashy sneakers throughout the season, the league is looking to offer some additional freedom. Last season, LeBron James used 51 different versions of his Nike LeBron 15 model.

The only restrictions in progress will consider third-party logos, which must still be previously approved by the league office before heading to the court. Personalized hand-painted sneakers, which are often made just a few days before their use, increased in popularity last season. The league will continue to closely monitor any third-party logo, since last season saw everything from unapproved cover artwork to podcast logos to icons of charities that slip into hardwood.

And there are still restrictions against any "protruding object or reflective elements", such as a gleaming chrome.

Shoes for the first half of the season are usually seen and approved at the end of August. The league would prefer to confirm the pairs for the second half of the season in early December.

Of course, a team can still have its own color policy beyond the relaxed guidelines of the league. In the early 2010s, Pat Riley told Nike representatives that "all my soldiers wear boots of the same color," since the brand was looking for James to put on some more vibrant red or yellow shoes.

For the 2018-19 season, an avalanche of colors is expected to reach the feet of NBA players throughout the league, throughout the season.