Ranking and analyzing all 30 NBA City edition uniforms
10. Los Angeles Clippers
For five of their seven March home games, the Clippers will wear these semi-throwbacks, which will be replaced for next season. The design is based on the colors of the old San Diego Clippers, where the team was from 1978 to 1984 before they moved to LA. This year is the 40th anniversary of their 1978 relocation from Buffalo to southern California.
The interesting part about these is that they’re not true throwbacks. They follow a similar template to their home and away jerseys, with the large CLIPPERS wordmark across the front and the number directly below. The shorts are unique, as spelled out by the team.
“Influenced by Southern California’s beach culture, the shorts were created to resemble a boardshort style feel, with three nautical flags sitting on top of each other vertically down the side, spelling out ‘L.A.C.’”
But it seems that the intention of this set was to show off the unique baby blue and orange color scheme used back then, rather than the exact design elements required of a true throwback. It’s a concept not seen very often in the sports uni world, so credit to the Clippers for originality. Their recognition of such a rare color combination is cool as well.
They run into problems when you realize the actual template is bad. But maybe these will inspire someone, somewhere, to try a light blue and orange scheme.