Bill Simmons declares Clippers’ Intuit Dome ‘Best NBA arena’!!
"That's the first time the Clippers have ever turned the tables on the Lakers and made 'em feel like they are just kind of more modern and more on it."
Celtics superfan Bill Simmons infamously became a Los Angeles Clippers season ticket-holder when he moved to California in the early-2000s and rivaled Billy Crystal as the most famous guy you would see at Staples Center on Lakers off-nights until this season, when the Clippers opened the new Intuit Dome.
In the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, the Ringer founder gave his dispatch from a recent Clippers home game and went so far as to declare Intuit Dome “the best NBA arena.”
Simmons explained that owner Steve Ballmer’s focus on basketball and generating fan passion really worked, and that the success of the arena may finally give the Clippers some momentum against their NBA big brothers.
“That is the best NBA arena, hands down. The best atmosphere,” Simmons said.
“Everything Ballmer did, where there’s no TVs in the lobbies, there’s no TVs in the clubs, there’s no TVs when you go and buy a hotdog, everything is built around, ‘get back in your seats.’ He wants people in there. He’s got that whole section behind the court that really does [work]. They start chants, they do all kinds of things. There’s more energy at those games than Laker games. They really have flipped this where the Lakers now look like they’re the rinky-dink franchise with the Staples Center, which is just old now and doesn’t have the same vibe as this Clippers thing. This is the first time the Clippers have ever turned the tables on the Lakers and made them feel like they are just kind of more modern and more on it.”
Asked by guest Kirk Goldsberry whether the energy at Intuit Dome could create to a real postseason advantage for the Clippers and finally make the Clippers feel like a home team, Simmons said yes.
Do Angelinos agree that Intuit Dome is the real deal? That’s hard to say, but Simmons is the first major sports voice to talk up Ballmer’s passion project and start a fight between the fan bases.