San Diego Clippers Reborn as NBA G League Member for 2024-25 Season

The San Diego market is getting its first NBA-affiliated team.

The Los Angeles Clippers are set to open play at the Intuit Dome in the 2024-25 season, and it looks as if their G-League affiliate will be undergoing some significant changes, too, including a relocation from Ontario to Oceanside, Calif.

The G-League Ontario Clippers will rebrand as the San Diego Clippers next season,  and are set to play in the new $100 million Frontwave Arena in Oceanside that will open in September. The 7,500-seat stadium will also host the North American Soccer League’s San Diego Sockers.

This marks the return of the Clippers brand to the San Diego market, which has been without an NBA team since 1984 when the Clippers moved to Los Angeles. The Clippers, formerly the Buffalo Braves, were in San Diego from 1978-84. The NBA’s Houston Rockets began as an expansion franchise in San Diego in 1967 before relocating to Texas in ’71.

San Diego has hosted several minor league basketball franchises since 1984, but this marks the first NBA-affiliated team.

"Super excited for the community of San Diego" -San Diego's own, and our 6th man, Norman Powell https://t.co/ZVAmgkPib4 pic.twitter.com/p4R7aM07la

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) March 11, 2024

“We are excited to show off our new home Frontwave Arena and welcome the San Diego Clippers next season. Working with a world class organization like the Clippers and people like Steve Ballmer and Gillian Zucker to create a new home to showcase their commitment both on and off the basketball court is a slam dunk,” said Josh Elias, co-founder and CEO of Frontwave Arena. 

With the NBA franchise set to begin a new chapter in its $2 billion arena, the G-League affiliate also will be getting an overhaul.