FIRST LOOK: Clippers’ New White and Blue Jerseys Designed by Nike

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to get a sneak peek at the Clippers’ new Association and Icon edition jerseys, designed by Nike. Ahead of today’s official unveiling by the Clippers, I’d like to share some pictures I took yesterday, along with official images from Clippers PR.

Here’s how this works: I’m gonna write some of my thoughts on the new uniforms, and there are 24 images waiting for you in a slideshow at the bottom of the article. If you can’t wait one minute longer, feel free to skip down to the bottom and come read my notes afterward—but please don’t ask me questions without reading the notes first. I bet I’ll answer most of them.

• The Association and Icon editions are two of the four new jerseys that the Clippers will have from Nike this season. So if your criticism is that the jerseys are basic, or simple—yes, they are. It’s entirely possible that jerseys 3 and 4 will be a little more creative (I have absolutely no idea what’s in the works), but it’s a good thing to have some basic, clean options. These jerseys are nice, simple, clean, and sharp, and that’s a good thing to have for your two base uniforms.
• No longer will the home team always wear white. The home team will be allowed to pick their jersey color and the road team will pick a contrasting uniform. Last season, we saw the Clippers routinely pick their black alternate jerseys over their road red jerseys. This season, we can expect to see a LOT of whatever the players’ favorite uniforms are—or at least, whichever uniform they happen to be on a winning streak with.
• My opinion on the uniforms: they’re beautiful, simple, and clean. They aren’t extravagant but, like I said above, they’re exactly what you want for your two base uniforms. I can’t wait to see what the Clippers unveil for their last two jerseys, one of which is going to be inspired by “the athlete’s mindset” and the other by “the community.” As far as these basic jerseys go, this is a definite upgrade from the team’s uniforms last season. What color will the other two be? Red? Grey? Black? Light blue? We’ll have to wait and see.
• My least favorite part of the new uniform—the mismatched stripes on the shorts. The idea is that red is always on the left side, because symbolic nautical lighting puts red on the port (left) side of the ship. I get why they did it, in an effort to include some notable nautical symbolism in the jersey design, but in my opinion it’s the weak point of the new designs.
• One really cool, but super minor touch is the addition of nautical flags above the label that spells “Clipper Nation” in the nautical alphabet. I would have preferred if they put “Clips Nation” but I guess we can live with Clipper Nation.

Grid View

• FIRST LOOK: The Clippers’ new white “Association edition” jersey designed by Nike. Lucas Hann, ClipsNation.com
• FIRST LOOK: The Clippers’ new blue “Icon edition” jersey designed by Nike. Lucas Hann, ClipsNation.com
• Back view of the Clippers’ new white “Association edition” jersey designed by Nike. Lucas Hann, ClipsNation.com
• Back view of the Clippers’ new blue “Icon edition” jersey designed by Nike. Lucas Hann, ClipsNation.com
• View of the jock tag on the Clippers’ new white “Association edition” jersey, which features “Clipper Nation” spelled in a version of the nautical alphabet adapted with Clippers colors. Lucas Hann, ClipsNation.com
• FIRST LOOK: The Clippers’ new Association edition white jersey. Clippers PR
• Back view of Blake Griffin wearing the Clippers’ new white “Association edition” jersey. Clippers PR
• Front view of Blake Griffin wearing the Clippers’ new white “Association edition” jersey. Clippers PR
• View of the Nike swoosh on the Clippers’ new white “Association edition” jersey. Clippers PR
• Front view of the Clippers’ white “Association edition” jersey. Clippers PR
• Back view of the Clippers’ white “Association edition” jersey. The red stripe on the left (port) side represents a traditional nautical light on the port side of a ship. Clippers PR
• View of the Nike swoosh on the Clippers’ new white “Association edition” jersey. Clippers PR
• View of the jock tag on the Clippers’ new white “Association edition” jersey. The nautical flags (adapted from the nautical alphabet with Clippers colors) spell “Clipper Nation.” Clippers PR
• Front view of DeAndre Jordan wearing the Clippers’ new “Icon edition” blue jersey. Clippers PR
• Front view of the Clippers’ blue “Icon edition” jerseys designed by Nike. Clippers PR
• Lower angled view of the Clippers’ new “Icon Edition” blue jersey designed by Nike. The red stripe on the left thigh represents the traditional red nautical lighting on the port side of ships. Clippers PR
• Side view of the shorts on the Clippers’ new blue “Icon edition” jerseys, featuring a red stripe on the left side and a Clippers logo. Clippers PR
• Back view of the Clippers’ new blue “Icon edition” jerseys by Nike. The red stripe on the left side represents the traditional nautical lighting of red on the port side of ships. Clippers PR
• View of the “Clippers” wordmark on the team’s new blue “Icon edition” jersey designed by Nike. The previous lines underneath the wordmark have been removed. Clippers PR
• View of the jock tag on the Clippers’ new blue “Icon edition” jersey designed by Nike. The flags spell “Clipper Nation” in the nautical alphabet. Clippers PR
• View of the Nike swoosh, “Clippers” wordmark, and neckline on the Clippers’ new blue “Icon edition” jersey. Clippers PR
• View of the Clippers logo on the side of the shorts of the Clippers’ new blue “Icon edition” jerseys from Nike. Clippers PR
• View of the Nike swoosh on the shorts of the Clippers’ new blue “Icon edition” jersey. Clippers PR
• View of the waistband of the Clippers’ new blue “Icon edition” jersey by Nike, featuring a Clippers logo. Clippers PR