After 40 years in Los Angeles, the Clippers finally got to hand out rings on Thursday. Unfortunately, it was only to commemorate their new home.
The Clippers opened their new arena, the Intuit Dome, on Thursday night with a concert by Bruno Mars. They celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a red carpet, a champagne christening of the building by coach Ty Lue and the first rings in franchise history.
With the opening of the Intuit Dome, a state-of-the-art arena in Inglewood, the Clippers are hoping to emerge from the shadow of their cross-town rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers. While sharing the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center), the Lakers have been given priority in scheduling and hosting, much like the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. That has led the Clippers to play more than 10 afternoon games each of the last two seasons, which has hurt attendance and ratings.
The facility certainly eclipses the Lakers’ 25-year-old arena in terms of aesthetics and modern amenities, but the Clippers have failed to eclipse the Lakers where it counts — in terms of on-court success. It took the Clippers more than two decades to win their first playoff series in Los Angeles and when they did become respectable, “Lob City” teams featuring Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan never advanced past the second round and the Clippers’ best chance at a title fell through when the Denver Nuggets beat them in 2020. To top it all off, the Lakers won it all that season.
The presentation of rings, not for a title but for a building, thus fits the image of the Clippers as the little brothers of the Lakers. It is a sign of the franchise’s seriousness and its willingness to spend under the leadership of billionaire Steve Ballmer, whose enthusiasm can be embarrassing. Like when Ballmer shouts enthusiastically about the Intuit Dome’s bathrooms.
Ironically, those rings came after a summer that took the Clippers further from title contention than they have in years. Franchise mainstay Paul George left for the Philadelphia 76ers, while their biggest signings were Derrick Jones Jr. and 35-year-old Nic Batum. The Clippers are burdened by the NBA’s punitive new salary cap rules and by trades that cost them a large chunk of their future first-round picks. After all, they still owe Oklahoma City two other first-rounders from the original trade that brought George.
It’s a nice gesture to celebrate what appears to be a spectacular new building. But the rings in the Intuit Dome might be the only rings the Clippers see for a while.
