HONOLULU, Hawaii — The Los Angeles Clippers have finally moved out of their rental at Crypto.com Arena and into their new permanent home, the $2 billion Intuit Dome.
While the historically nomadic franchise is undergoing changes, the Clippers have made sure to keep one thing consistent during their cross-town move: training camp in Hawaii.
The Clippers announced Tuesday that they will face the Golden State Warriors in an exhibition game on Oct. 5 at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center to cap a week of preseason activities on the lower campus of the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
This will be the fifth time since 2017 and the second consecutive year that the Clippers will visit Honolulu. The Warriors, who announced plans to camp at BYU-Hawaii on the north shore of Oahu last week, I haven’t been to Hawaii for preseason since 2007.
Last October, the Clippers sold out tickets for their preseason game against the Utah Jazz.
On paper, the upcoming exhibition is also packed with stars. While Los Angeles lost Paul George to free agency, it signed forward Kawhi Leonard to an extension and retained veteran James Harden. The Warriors lost Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks, but future Hall of Famers Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are still the cornerstones of the 2022 NBA championship team.
Both teams are expected to arrive Oct. 1 after hosting NBA Media Day at their home bases in California.
According to a Clippers spokesman, the franchise is expected to send an envoy, including guard Norman Powell, to this weekend’s sporting events at UH: the season opener, the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic, on Friday and Sunday, and UH’s football game Saturday against UCLA.
Tickets for Clippers-Warriors in Hawaii have not yet for sale.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
