New Uniforms/Logo for the Clippers?

[WSU151]

This is the correct answer. If the Cavs win the NBA title, then the title of longest-suffering sports city (with 3 or more teams) goes from Cleveland to Minneapolis/St. Paul.

So those two World Series in 1987 and 1991 don't count, then?

I ran the numbers, because I have absolutely nothing better to do.

As it turns out, Minneapolis/St. Paul DOES have the longest championship drought (besides Cleveland, of course) of any city with 3 or more teams. Washington is a close third, with the Redskins having won Super Bowl XXVI in January 1992, coincidentally enough in Minneapolis.

I don't have any hard evidence to back this up, but I'd be willing to bet that MSP has the fewest championships in either the pros or the major college sports of any large city in the last 30 years. We have the Twins (1987, 1991) and the University of Minnesota hockey team (2002, 2003). I'll sit back and wait for all the obvious ones I missed to come rolling in.

How about Cleveland (again)? If you want to count the Ohio State football championship in 2002 and the Columbus Crew's MLS Cup a few years back, fine, but it still sets the benchmark for recent sports futility.

Since we're talking 30 years...Seattle?

[BBTV]

Anyone got a shot of that early-90s prototype that got nixed by the Clips?

If I recall, it was teal, orange and sliver.

I remember it. I thought we determined that it was just a well photoshopped concept and not an actual proto?

[Discogod]

I'd like the Clips to keep the script and colours. Everything else can change. For most of their history, whether in Buffalo, San Diego or LA the Clips have had red & blue in the unis and it's about the most distinctive thing about the team.

Clips colour timeline:

BUFFALO:

1970-71: Red, Blue, Gold

1971-73: Black, Orange, White

1974-78: Dark Blue, Light Blue, White

SAN DIEGO:

1978-82: Light Blue, Burnt Orange, White

1982-84: Red, White, Blue

LA:

1984-Present: Red, White, Blue

So they've had those colours for 29 years out of the 40 the team's existed. Personally, I'd like to see them return to the '78-82 unis (with the nautical flags on the shorts), with current colours and script ("Los Angeles" on the roads).

[TruColor]

I'd like the Clips to keep the script and colours. Everything else can change. For most of their history, whether in Buffalo, San Diego or LA the Clips have had red & blue in the unis and it's about the most distinctive thing about the team.

Clips colour timeline:

BUFFALO:

1970-71: Red, Blue, Gold

1971-73: Black, Orange, White

1974-78: Dark Blue, Light Blue, White

SAN DIEGO:

1978-82: Light Blue, Burnt Orange, White

1982-84: Red, White, Blue

LA:

1984-Present: Red, White, Blue

So they've had those colours for 29 years out of the 40 the team's existed. Personally, I'd like to see them return to the '78-82 unis (with the nautical flags on the shorts), with current colours and script ("Los Angeles" on the roads).

Technically from the 1974-1975 through 1977-1978 seasons, the Braves' colors were as follows:

[TruColor]

Anyone got a shot of that early-90s prototype that got nixed by the Clips?

If I recall, it was teal, orange and sliver.

I remember it. I thought we determined that it was just a well photoshopped concept and not an actual proto?

No. It was legit. I have a scan of an official logosheet...copyright 1993 by the NBA:

[BBTV]

Oh, that wasn't the one I was thinking. The one I was thinking about was an orange jersey with an "arial"-like font on the front. I do remember that logo now though. It sucks... I can see why they rejected it.

[Cujo]

Even today, with the teal/orange combo out of style, and with the boring-looking wave, I would still prefer it over the Clips' current 'rec-league' logo. At least the 90s prototype one had some sort of character to it.

ColorWerx, do you know why that logo got shot down anyways?

[The_Admiral]

Inevitably being seen as LA's other team, I would consider the Clippers to be a niche market and not really "a large market" despite being in LA, since the Lakers will presumably always take the lion's share of the market. I would think "modern" or distinctive colors would be very appropriate for the Clippers.

Second teams all around still have timeless looks: note the Angels, Islanders, A's, Mets, White Sox, and Jets. The Clippers are fine with what they have. They just need a few tweaks here and there.

And oh, there's that Clippers prototype I talked about. I think that would've gotten them up to about 2002, 2003 before everyone got tired of it.

[TrueYankee26]

Anyone got a shot of that early-90s prototype that got nixed by the Clips?

If I recall, it was teal, orange and sliver.

I remember it. I thought we determined that it was just a well photoshopped concept and not an actual proto?

No. It was legit. I have a scan of an official logosheet...copyright 1993 by the NBA:

I swear, it's just like the Kansas City Wizards logo

Even the font looks alike

[TheOldRoman]

And every supposed 'Sox Fan' will hop on the Cubby bandwagon, just like half of Chicago jumped on the White Sox wagon after the title in '05.

No, not even close. I am not going to steer this thread into a debate about fandom or how many douchebags living in Tinley Park are now "lifelong" Cubs fans since 1998 or 2003, but that is not the case. Most of the people jumping on the Sox bandwagon in 2005 were the people who jumped on the Cubs bandwagon a few years earlier, and back to the Cubs for their "historic" back to back division championship a few years after. Chicago is a big enough city where both fans have large fanbases with a lot of middle of the road fairweather fans left over. Chicago is a "both teams" town, not a Cubs town. The Cubs might have 60% of the fan base (guess), but there are still plenty of Sox fans. Anyone saying Chicago "always was a Cubs town" is either full of or doesn't know history. Both teams have coexisted for 110 seasons. That is all.

[TheOldRoman]

Also, I don't get the love for their script. It wouldn't be too bad if it was a legit script, but it's more like a patch - I HATE how the "C" is totally filled in by the background color of the patch. I'd actually prefer it if it was more of a baseball style, even if it had a tail or something.

I agree with this. Ths script would be really nice if they got rid of the patch and added a single color outline. The current script looks cheap.

[IceCap]

The Clippers need a new logo and consistency.First they need to pick a wordmark. Either the one from the logo or the script one works for me, but they need to drop the one they don't chose entirely. Then they need to design a new logo based around the script they do pick that doesn't come off as a Lakers knock-off.

[Lights Out]

No. It was legit. I have a scan of an official logosheet...copyright 1993 by the NBA:

Is it alright for me to use this as an avatar? Just checking, because it's a prototype and all.

Obviously, they aren't going in this direction for the real new logo because this is kind of ugly in a '90s way, but it's still a nice part of the team history.

[hawk36]

I think the Clippers need to refine their script and then use that on the jersey AND in their logo. Their current logo is just too similar to the Lakers (serif typeface with ball, etc.). Stop being Lakers-lite.

[The_Admiral]

The problem with not doing the Clippers script the way it is now is that if you were to just go single-outline like its "Los Angeles" counterpart, the red and blue would touch and it would get muddled. Conversely, if you went to double-outline on Los Angeles, it would make the inside part too thin and slight, since you're already working in tight quarters trying to get that whole thing to fit across. Rough mockup of what I'm saying:

So as frustrating as it is, there's actually a bit of a method to the madness here. They've somehow got it right.

[Lee.]

Anyone got a shot of that early-90s prototype that got nixed by the Clips?

If I recall, it was teal, orange and sliver.

I remember it. I thought we determined that it was just a well photoshopped concept and not an actual proto?

No. It was legit. I have a scan of an official logosheet...copyright 1993 by the NBA:

The more I look at it, the more that wave looks like a Power Puff Girl supervillain.

[Conrad.]

I think the Clippers need to refine their script and then use that on the jersey AND in their logo. Their current logo is just too similar to the Lakers (serif typeface with ball, etc.). Stop being Lakers-lite.

yeah, i've always thought even a change as small as this could work if they didn't want a whole new overhaul:

[ESTONES6]

Also, I don't get the love for their script. It wouldn't be too bad if it was a legit script, but it's more like a patch - I HATE how the "C" is totally filled in by the background color of the patch. I'd actually prefer it if it was more of a baseball style, even if it had a tail or something.

I hate this, too. The letters themselves are decent. Not great, but nice enough. The 'patch effect' is terrible. If it just had a standard outline, it would be fine.

The Script is nice... but like you said, the patch is... wack. I think if they did a nice outline, it would look 10x better than it already does. I do love how simple their uniforms and logos are though.

[IceCap]

I think the Clippers need to refine their script and then use that on the jersey AND in their logo. Their current logo is just too similar to the Lakers (serif typeface with ball, etc.). Stop being Lakers-lite.

yeah, i've always thought even a change as small as this could work if they didn't want a whole new overhaul:

Hmmm, it's an update, no question, but it still looks like a Lakers knock-off.

[Dedalvs]

No. It was legit. I have a scan of an official logosheet...copyright 1993 by the NBA:

Wow. That's not bad! Change the gray to either white or a light turquoise, and it's gold!