After more than 400 days without fans in attendance, the LA Clippers threw a small but mighty party last night, welcoming 1700 fans back into the Staples Center for a solid dismantling of the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves.
I was lucky enough to be one of those fans; the anticipation was palpable and the LA Clippers did not disappoint.
Despite what seemed to be formidable obstacles in actually getting tickets (involving a frantic morning when ticket sales opened up to me while my password to enter the site didn’t work), and ensuring compliance with the COVID-19 protocols (for most seating locations, that requires either a negative test within 72 hours before the event or a vaccination card showing 14 days or more since being fully vaccinated; for some seats, both a negative test and full vaccination are required), there was no dampening the enthusiasm.
The vibe outside Staples Center was electric. Fans arrived uncharacteristically early for an LA crowd; the weather was a gorgeous sunny low 80’s late afternoon; gourmet food trucks and tall cocktail tables welcomed fans near the entrance on Chick Hearn Court.
The staff echoed the electricity of the moment. From the entry area security to the Covid-compliance checkers to the inside ushers, we were met with excited welcomes, feeling like we were reuniting with long-lost friends. As lonely and isolating as the pandemic protocols have been for the past year, connecting with the Clipper Nation in a safe environment felt like a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Inside the arena, fans were greeting each other warmly (with masks and from an appropriate distance), whether old friends or strangers. The experience was definitely different—many concessions were closed, the scattered few that were open seemed to be fairly devoid of customers.
With no food or drink, not even water, allowed inside the seating area, fans had the option of eating and drinking in designated areas on the concourse. Not ideal, but nothing has really been ideal in the last year, and the Staples Center staff did a solid job of making the experience fun while maintaining important safety protocols.
Quite frankly, walking into the arena and seeing the Clippers shoot around on the court made me a little misty, and I don’t think I was alone in that. It is just a game in the end, but being back, even with the limitations, was an emotional reminder of everything we have missed and lost. The videos on the big screen welcoming fans back led to a few more tears. It has been an unprecedented year, and it’s not over yet, and those realizations were front and center last night.
Being seated rows apart from the closest other fans honestly took a little getting used to. But everyone in attendance did their best to make it sound like it was a sold-out crowd. The barrage of threes was met with fans on their feet screaming. DJ Dense and Hannah and Chuck the Condor were enthusiastically doing what they do, amping the crowd up with music and their palpable joy for the group experience.
Once the game started, settling into enjoying live basketball was just a welcome dose of muscle memory. The quarters flew by, punctuated by the sights and sounds that can only be experienced at live Clippers games. As careful and concerned as many of us have been around the pandemic, the experience felt completely safe, if not completely normal. Gratitude doesn’t even begin to describe the overall feeling from beginning to end.
Welcome back Clipper Nation!