After 40 years in Los Angeles, the Clippers finally gave out rings on Thursday, but they were only for their new home.
Ring nightโฆ https://t.co/BTW0cDdU0T โ Law Murray (@LawMurrayTheNU) August 15, 2024
They opened the Intuit Dome with a Bruno Mars concert and celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Coach Ty Lue christened the building with champagne, and it was the first time in franchise history that rings were handed out.
T Lue https://t.co/5N1POTJ1JT โ Law Murray (@LawMurrayTheNU) August 16, 2024
New Beginnings at Intuit Dome:
The Clippers hope their new arena in Inglewood will help them step out of the Lakers’ shadow. Sharing Crypto.com Arena meant they had to play more afternoon games, which hurt attendance and TV ratings. The Intuit Dome is modern and flashy compared to the Lakers’ older arena, but success on the court remains elusive for the Clippers. They struggled for years before winning their first playoff series in L.A., and even then, “Lob City” teams never got past round two.
Fans might think this is just another sign of how hard it is for the Clippers to compete with the Lakers.
Handing out rings for a building rather than a championship fits their image as underdogs. Billionaire owner Steve Ballmer’s enthusiasm can be over-the-top too. He once got super excited about having lots of toilets at the new arena!
La Clippers owner Steve Ballmer fired up about one of the Intuit Domeโs signature features: โToilets! 1,160 toilets and urinals! Three times the NBA average! โฆ We do not want people waiting around. We want them back to their dโ- seats.โ https://t.co/Zphre8ZMRL โ Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) March 7, 2023
Ironically, this ring ceremony comes after a tough summer where Paul George left for Philadelphia. Their biggest additions? Derrick Jones Jr. and Nic Batum who is already 35 years old. The NBA’s new salary rules make things harder too; they owe Oklahoma City future picks from when they first got George.
Itโs nice to celebrate a cool new building, but these might be the only rings Clippers fans see anytime soon.
What do you think? Will this new arena change anything?
