The Los Angeles Clippers will finally be getting some jerseys in the rafters.
The team announced this week that they plan to display California high school jerseys from across California in its new stadium, Intuit Dome when it opens this year ahead of next season. The Clippers wrote on their website that the symbol will “honor the state’s rich history of youth basketball” and posted instructions for application.
California has a deep history of prep basketball, with Hall of Fame-caliber NBA players like Reggie Miller, Bill Walton, James Harden, and Jason Kidd coming from the Golden State, and others like Raymond Lewis and Tracy Murray who built lasting legacies solely off high school play. WNBA legends like Lisa Leslie and Diana Taurasi have also hailed from California high schools.
Intuit Dome, in Inglewood about 10 miles away from current home Crypto.com Arena, is what Bloomberg describes as a $2 billion passion project for owner Steve Ballmer. The billionaire told Bloomberg that “We can’t establish a sense of identity” around Crytpo.com arena, which is also home of the Los Angeles Lakers and hockey Los Angeles Kings.
Among chief issues of the team’s place at Crypto, where they moved under former owner Donald Sterling in 1984, is that the Clippers are one of just two teams (Toronto Raptors) who do not have any jerseys retired in a Ring of Honor-like setting. That, along with a dearth of championships, is in stark contrast to the Lakers, whose retired numbers and championship banners the Clippers cover with pictures of active players during games. Ballmer, worth $120 billion, can model this stadium to his vision.
How and where the high school jerseys will be displayed is not yet clear, though it will almost certainly not be in the rafters like a Ring of Honor. The most expensive basketball stadium ever will presumably have plenty of room for other museum-like experiences.