Filipino artist Gori Bautista designs Phoenix Suns jersey for Filipino Heritage Night

Daily Tribune and The Mikan Box cover Valenzuela artist Gori Bautista's jersey for the Phoenix Suns' 30 October Filipino Heritage Night, including Baybayin lettering and the number 63.

Filipino-American visual artist Gori Bautista designed the special jersey for the Phoenix Suns' 2026 Filipino Heritage Night, Daily Tribune reported on 5 November.

The Mikan Box reported that the Suns held the night on Friday 30 October at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, where fans lined up for the jersey, cultural performances ran before tip-off and at halftime, and there was a postgame moment with shooting guard Jalen Green.

Bautista, who is from Valenzuela and now works in Arizona under the GORILABORATORY name, told Daily Tribune the project meant a lot to him as a basketball fan. "It's really huge for me. Basketball is everything in the Philippines, and I grew up with it. I never imagined I would design a jersey for the Phoenix Suns," he said.

What the jersey shows

According to Daily Tribune, Baybayin lettering on the back reads "Ang Lambak" ("The Valley"), a nod to the Salt River Valley the team represents, while the number 63 references the Philippines' country calling code alongside the three stars and the sun. Bautista also told the paper he added his gorilla character playing basketball in slippers, with patterns drawing on Philippine landmarks and older tribal tattoo designs.

The Mikan Box described this year's white jersey as carrying geometric patterns and colourful accents, and said fans wore the new design alongside last year's Heritage Night jersey and some barongs inside the arena.

A Suns partnership that started with a gorilla shirt

Daily Tribune reported that the Suns first reached out in 2022 after finding Bautista's gorilla-character art shirt, with their collaboration beginning in 2023 on AAPI Month shirts. Bautista said he researched Philippine landmarks, foods, tattoos and Baybayin before his first jersey design, and aimed to make this year's Filipino Heritage jersey the best he could for Filipino-Americans in Arizona.

"To see so many Filipinos in the crowd wearing a jersey I designed - that is something I will never forget. It proved that Filipino artists belong on the biggest stage," he told Daily Tribune.

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