New Los Angeles Clippers arena honors California high school basketball

While the newly constructed Intuit Dome is mainly for the Los Angeles Clippers, the NBA team paid tribute to California high school basketball via its jersey project. The team’s goal is to collect and display jerseys from every high school team, honoring the sport’s rich history in the state.

As the Los Angeles Times’ Eric Sondheimer wrote, three of the eight walls dedicated to these jerseys are already visible. Each jersey is inside a frame, and the best view is off the floor with suite access. However, the display is still visible from the main floor.

Sondheimer added that the California high school basketball jersey project was the brainchild of Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker. While it’s a noble undertaking, Clippers team owner Steve Ballmer raised his concern about not collecting enough jerseys on time.

A Hollister High School basketball jersey is included in a display representing every high school team in California that is part of the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, home of the Los Angeles Clippers. Credit: Baler alumna and Clippers season ticket holder Emily (Kovach) Tangorra. pic.twitter.com/iBp8G0SANG

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However, Zucker and her team worked tirelessly to reach as many schools as possible. In return, they’ve received and displayed over 1,500 high school basketball jerseys, and more are coming. The jersey display is one of countless features and attractions in the $1.8 billion stadium built in Inglewood. More importantly, it connects the team to the community because former and present high school basketball players can relive the memories by seeing their school’s jersey.

Top California High School Basketball Teams Featured in Intuit Dome Jersey Wall

Players and fans can find a jersey via the Clippers’ official website. Meanwhile, the collection should include jerseys from the state’s top 25 teams based on the California On3 High School Basketball Composite Rankings. As of writing, the Harvard-Westlake Wolverines are the top team, followed by the St. John Bosco Braves and the Notre Dame Knights.

The Wolverines are the defending California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Open Division Champions, defeating Salesian. Meanwhile, the Braves are the kings of CIF Division 1, beating San Ramon Valley. Other boys basketball state champions include Oakland Tech (Division 2), Bishop Alemany (Division 3), Monterey (Division 4), and Athenian (Division 5).

In addition to the jersey display, Sondheimer added that the Intuit Dome complex will have a regulation court that can seat 700 spectators for California high school basketball games. State championship games could also be played at the central court soon.