Rockets will wear Chinese jersey this season, plan to unveil new alternates in 2015-16

The first look at the Chinese jersey, worn here by Dwight Howard, that the Houston Rockets will wear

When will the Houston Rockets change their jersey or add new ones?

That’s a question that we get asked often here, so after some digging, here’s the latest news we can pass on about what’s coming on the Rockets jersey front.

Rockets Will Wear Chinese Jersey This Season

It is not true that the Rockets will get a brand new official alternate jersey this season, but they will unveil a new jersey just the same. The Rockets will wear a Chinese jersey this season to celebrate Lunar New Year, a source confirmed.

The team will wear the jersey for three straight home games, starting with the February 21st contest against Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors.

The jersey is sleeved with four (correction: two) Mandarin characters on the front replacing the word “Rockets”. I’m told it looks very sharp.

Rockets Getting New Alternates in 2015-16

Though the Rockets will not release a new alternate this season, the team will unveil two new alternates for 2015-16, a source confirmed to ClutchFans, and might add a third alternate jersey for the 2016-17 campaign.

Not too much is known about the jerseys, but here’s what we can tell you.

The first alternate jersey, which is finalized, will not use the throwback color scheme (yellows) and is “radically different” than the current alternates, we’re told. It will use the current Rockets scheme, but will not be a black jersey (… that we’ve been wanting now for a decade). So that leaves red and gray as your two strong possibilities, with white also possible. The jersey will be sleeved.

The second alternate jersey, which is in the concepts stage, will be a “Clutch City” jersey, a source confirmed. You will likely see the words “CLUTCH CITY” replacing “ROCKETS” on the front of the jersey, a concept similar to the Clutch City shirts the Rockets handed out to fans for Game 5 of the playoffs last season.

Colors are not finalized, but you can bet that the jersey will use the throwback colors like the current alternates.

Primary Uniforms Will Change… Slightly

There are also two small changes coming to the Rockets primary jerseys (home, road) starting next season (2015-16).

For starters, the cut of the jersey on the shoulders will be more narrow starting that year. This will be more like an older jersey cut where there is less fabric on the shoulder.

This is best illustrated by showing the previous road jersey next to the current alternate jersey, which uses the more narrow cut on the shoulder. You can see a noticeable difference.

Secondly, the Rockets have slightly altered the font used throughout the jersey, on the word “Rockets”, the player’s name and the numbers. I’m told you can see the change but it’s “subtle.”