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On Monday, the LA Clippers unveiled their rebranded jerseys, logo and court design for the 2024-25 NBA season, receiving mostly positive fan approval. Among the outspoken supporters of the rebrand were former Clippers Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, who cited the franchise’s need to overcome its tumultuous history.
Despite being fairly successful over the past decade, the Clippers have historically been one of the NBA’s worst teams. LA ranks second-last in all-time winning percentage (.422) and has garnered a reputation for being a “cursed” franchise.
However, according to Barnes and Jackson, the Clippers’ rebrand could help them shed their negative reputation.
On the “All The Smoke” podcast, Barnes brought up LA’s new look. He and Jackson expressed eagerness to see the Clippers start fresh, with Barnes calling for them to change their name.
“New arena, should be new everything,” Jackson said.
“Change the name!” Barnes said.
“F**k it, yeah, change it,” Jackson said.
Barnes added that the Clippers need to overcome the curse of disgraced former owner Donald Sterling, with Jackson concurring.
“Get the Donald Sterling curse and energy off your franchise,” Barnes said. “Especially, they got a chance to win it this year, too. Man, you think about it, you can win it, you’ve got a banner, but change the name and get a fresh new start. There’s just a lot of bad energy that comes with the name of that organization.”
“The ghost of the hater, hater, yeah. B**ch a**,” Jackson said.
Sterling was infamously banned from the NBA for life and fined $2.5 million in 2014 after getting caught making racist remarks on a recording. The longtime owner was subsequently forced to sell the Clippers, with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer acquiring the team in 2014.
Upon taking over the franchise, Ballmer was eager to make changes and has reportedly been planning a mega-rebrand for a while. He even considered changing the team’s name like Barnes and Jackson suggested.
However, Ballmer and Co. ultimately decided that a new logo, jerseys and court design marked a sufficient rebrand.
Clippers’ rebrand pays tribute to nautical history
As for the inspiration behind the Clippers’ rebrand, they are reportedly paying tribute to their nautical history. Their new logo features a naval ship, the basis for the Clipper moniker, overlapping a compass. Meanwhile, they opted to keep their traditional color scheme with an emphasis on navy blue.
“The hope is that it's modern but feels like it has been around forever,” Gillian Zucker, president of business operations for the Clippers and Intuit Dome said, via ESPN.
LA’s updated logo is a stark contrast to its current logo featuring a basketball with the acronym L.A.C., which has been panned for being generic. Meanwhile, the franchise’s new look coincides with the upcoming opening of its state-of-the-art Intuit Dome next season.
So, the Clippers will soon look like a very different team.
Guess the Lakers players!
