Are These Abominable Jersey Redesigns the Clippers' New Team Jerseys?
More so than most other major professional sports franchises, NBA basketball teams are in a constant state of renewal and rebranding.
Teams are adding sleeves, changing logos and generally doing whatever they can to not be the kid with last season's L.A. Gear kicks at recess. It's a year-round popularity contest, which is why I'm hesitant to invest in the authenticity of these supposed leaked images of jersey redesigns for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Uni-Watch.com's Paul Lukas posted pictures of what he claims are preliminary mock-ups of new kits the Clippers are putting together. And dear god, are they terrible.
Lukas claims he's had two separate sources confirm the mocks as legitimate, and the images do feature the #brand jargon typical of a marketing pitch.
Update from Monday, April 20
Lukas has shared even more mock-ups:
--End of Update--
The words "youthful energy" and "edge" are employed, as is the idea of a sleeveless shirt's ability to "empower."
The main reason I can't believe these are real is because they look like they were designed in Microsoft Paint by the one guy who's still really into SlamBall.
For what it's worth, ESPN's Arash Markazi confirmed Friday afternoon that the Clippers will be exploring a rebranding effort over the summer.
So you can take it or leave it concerning the authenticity of these uniforms. It's difficult to think a professional design artist could make it to this point without anyone tapping him or her on the shoulder and saying, "Maybe we don't want the Chicago Cubs, side-by-side look."
But then again, this is a team playing in the same league that slapped dollar-store name tags on the lower back of its 2014 Christmas jerseys and called it a day. So you never know.
Dan is on Twitter. Don't do this, Los Angeles.
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