The Trail Blazers’ pinwheel logo, a graphical representation of two, five-man teams in the throws of competition, and the design of the PDX Carpet, a slightly avant-garde depiction of an aerial view of the north and south runways at Portland International Airport, are not only two of the most recognizable images associated with the city, they also look a bit alike. So it only makes sense to bring those two iconic images together.
“For local stuff, what better way to pay homage?” said Damian Lillard. “Now that we doing these different uniforms, these ‘Statement’ uniforms and these ‘City’ editions and all this stuff, if you’ve a city that has these different elements that are a thing, I think you should use it as an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate those things about the city.”
PHOTOS » 2022 ‑ 2023 City Edition Uniforms
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The Trail Blazers, along with their 29 contemporaries, released their 2022-23 “City” edition jersey Thursday morning, with this year’s version featuring the PDX Carpet design, which rose to prominence through the late 90’s and was a staple of social media posts until it was replaced in 2015 (though it’s coming back in the new terminal come 2024). And according to one long-time Trail Blazer, the marriage of the Trail Blazers and the PDX Carpet in jersey form was a long time coming.
“I like it a lot, it’s different than the norm for the Blazers,” said Lillard, whose signature sneaker series has featured colorways with the PDX Carpet design. “They haven’t done anything outside of our usual stuff other than the ‘Oregon Trail’ one we did, that was the most different. I think this one is along the lines of that. PDX Carpet is a major staple and for that to never be done or never get done at least once, I think that’s a crime. It’s only right to do it. That was actually my idea, too, so I really like it.”
The team went with a minimalistic approach on the various uniform elements in order to both highlight and contrast the PDX Carpet design.
The diagonal sash, a staple of Portland’s uniforms throughout franchise history, features the blue, white and red squares on a field of teal. Starting at the left shoulder, the sash travels across the face of the jersey from left to right, with the PDX Carpet design continuing down into the right side panel of the shorts. The left side of the shorts features a white pinwheel.
“It’s vibrant. I think it’s cool to wear colors if it makes sense and the PDX Carpet makes sense," said Anfernee Simons, who served as the model for the “City” edition release. “I figure a lot of people been asking for it for a long time, so I guess they be listening to the people now. Especially for someone from Portland, born and raised here, it’s a nice jersey to have.”
The vibrance of the sash, along with teal accents on the drop shadows, the piping around the neck and shoulders as well as the Nike swoosh, pops against the nearly all black jersey and shorts. The chest of the jersey features a bold “PDX” wordmark in a white, utilitarian block font above the player number.
“They’re nice, I like them a lot,” said Simons. “They’re different from the other jerseys, it’s weird seeing colors on there other than black and white and red. It’s a different little change, I like the ‘PDX,’ has to be first time we’ve had that on a jersey. I like them a lot.”
The team will debut the PDX Carpet “City” edition uniforms on November 15 versus the San Antonio Spurs in their first game back at Moda Center after a six-game, 10-day trip. The new "City" jersey is already available online, at the Rip City Clothing Co. locations at Moda Center and the new pop-up kiosk in Concourse C at Portland International Airport.