NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has officially announced that the Los Angeles Clippers will host the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend festivities at their upcoming Intuit Dome.
Scheduled to open in August of this year, the Intuit Dome will be the Clippers' new home venue starting from the 2024-25 NBA season. This marks the first instance where the NBA awarded an All-Star Game to an arena still under construction.
Footage captured by NBC Sports writer Kurt Helin in January 2024 revealed that the arena is nearing completion, showcasing an installed basketball court and workers taking a break to shoot some hoops.
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Where is Intuit Dome located?
The Intuit Dome is situated in Inglewood, California, adjacent to the Kia Forum, commonly known as The Forum. The Forum served as the former home of the Los Angeles Lakers from 1967 to 1999.
The Clippers have shared a home arena with the Lakers in downtown Los Angeles since the 1999-00 season at the Crypto.com Arena, formerly the Staples Center. Their current lease will expire at the end of the 2023-24 NBA season.
Before that, the Clippers played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena from 1984.
How much did Steve Ballmer spend on building the Intuit Dome?
Ballmer has privately financed the arena, investing approximately $2 billion in its construction, roughly equivalent to the amount he spent to purchase the entire Clippers franchise in 2014.
In constructing the Dome, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had to acquire The Forum for $400 million from The Madison Square Garden Company to resolve a legal dispute that aimed to block its construction.
The arena is equipped with three times as many toilets and urinals compared to other NBA arenas, translating to shorter wait times for attendees.
The dynamic of sharing the arena with the Lakers
Two Clippers players, forward Paul George and guard Terance Mann, shed light on the intriguing and strange dynamic of sharing a home arena with the historically more successful and popular Los Angeles Lakers.
During Mann's appearance on George's Podcast P show, the duo discussed how the Clippers often feel like "little brothers" at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center).
George mentioned that the Clippers share a weight room with the Lakers inside the arena, where some gym equipment bears LeBron James' logo, and Clippers players aren't permitted to use it.
Mann added that most arena workers are Lakers fans and pointed out differences in on-court lighting during home games.
George elaborated on the contrast, describing the Lakers' atmosphere as more upscale, creating an overall feeling reminiscent of Lakers town.
Both players agreed that they are treated differently by arena workers compared to players wearing purple and gold.
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