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Streetlights over Spotlights: How the Clippers rebranded their culture

By Joey Linn

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 15: Patrick Beverley #21 and Montrezl Harrell #5 of the LA Clippers celebrate after they beat the Golden State Warriors during Game Two of the first round of the 2019 NBA Western Conference Playoffs at ORACLE Arena on April 15, 2019 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 15: Patrick Beverley #21 and Montrezl Harrell #5 of the LA Clippers celebrate after they beat the Golden State Warriors during Game Two of the first round of the 2019 NBA Western Conference Playoffs at ORACLE Arena on April 15, 2019 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

The people in the back:

Who are the people in the back? These people that Patrick Beverley says his team plays for, who are they? They’re exactly who he says they are. They’re the people who weren’t given anything, the people who haven’t known success without effort, the people who work for everything they deserve.

In short, they’re the 99 percenters. It’s the side of Los Angeles that’s most prevalent, yet most underrepresented. This isn’t for those who need the spotlights, the attention, or the glitz and glam, it’s for the hard-working class that values hard work over recognition.

For Clipper fans, this couldn’t have been a more perfect description. This is who Clipper fans are, simply because they haven’t known anything different. Every Clipper fan has their story on how they became a fan, and obviously none of them are able to say it was because of some championship run.

Whether someone is from Buffalo or San Diego, or they fell in love with Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson, every Clipper fan has their story. For many Clipper fans around the ages of high school to college, their story is that growing up in SoCal, they were introduced to the game of basketball when Lob City reigned supreme in Los Angeles. No matter what their story is, every Clipper fan has one.

Don MacLean said it best, when speaking to Ralph Lawler after the final game of the 2018-19 season when he said, “It’s refreshing, Ralph, that people still appreciate hard work and togetherness… when Blake Griffin left, Chris Paul left, and DeAndre Jordan left, you thought maybe people would jump off the bandwagon, and Clipper fans don’t. They stick around because they’ve been through some hard times. I think this year was great for them, because if the expectations were low, they overachieved and these Clipper fans appreciated that.”

This was in response to a comment made by Ralph that Clipper fans are a different breed. Both Ralph and Don couldn’t have been more correct. When analyzing the franchise for their accomplishments, one might look at a Clipper fan and wonder how and why they’ve stuck around.

The answer is for the exact same reason Don gave, and it’s because Clipper fans have been through some hard times and they value hard work over recognition.

Those are the people in the back.

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