INGLEWOOD, Calif. — A cardboard tray filled with chicken fingers can hide more than you think. On Wednesday, a man named Chris used one to make LA Clippers history.
See, Chris had a plan. A Los Angeles resident attending the first-ever regular-season game at the Clippers’ new arena, he would enter enemy territory, and he would use his chicken fingers to get there. His friend, a Clippers fan, had invited him to opening night. But Chris was a supporter of the visiting Phoenix Suns.
He wanted to show it — and he chose the worst section to do so.
A feature unique to the NBA engulfs the area behind one basket at the posh Intuit Dome. This is The Wall! No, no one is yelling. At The Wall!, the exclamation point comes for free (the exclamation point is actually part of the proper name).
The Wall! is a place by Clippers fans and for Clippers fans. Anyone else, including Chris, is an intruder. It’s a 4,500-seat area that’s aptly named, so steep with 144 stairs leading from the court to the top level that even a mountain goat would get dizzy. It is the student section for Steve Ballmer University.
THE WALL‼️ pic.twitter.com/p23jRmsxSR
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) October 24, 2024
The Clippers have a vetting process. Purchasing tickets at The Wall! includes answering a questionnaire that proves fandom. The middle part of the section is standing only. Fans arriving Wednesday found rubber chickens of Chuck the Condor, the team’s mascot, on their seats. Cheering against the Clippers in The Wall! is forbidden, as is wearing the gear of any other NBA team. Either can get you removed from The Wall! not just for the night but for good.
But Chris wanted to represent his squad, so he devised a plan.
He rolled up a Kevin Durant jersey in a tight ball and carried it under the tray. The hint of purple fabric pouring out of his hand wasn’t enough to set off alarm bells upon entering The Wall!
Alas, his fortune did not remain — for The Wall! is so impenetrable that even a prime-aged Corey Maggette could not get by it.
Eventually, Chris tried to sneak his Durant jersey over the black tank top he wore upon reaching his seat. Within moments, he was out, the first fan in Clippers history asked to leave The Wall.
“He snuck it in,” said Yolanda, an usher who works in the section and was nearby when Chris got the boot. She then smiled, leaned in and continued with the tone of a seventh-grade teacher who had just caught two kids passing notes across the classroom.
“He was verrrrryyy smart,” she said.
This was classic Yolanda.
Of course, removing a fan from The Wall! isn’t the same experience as ejecting an aggressive one or a drunkard. Security did not escort Chris out.
He sauntered through the concourse, having removed his Durant jersey again and holding it in his right hand. He headed to the customer service section where the Clippers offered him and his buddy a new pair of seats that were not in The Wall! Christian, a gentleman working the counter when Chris arrived, called it an upgrade: Main 1, row 21, seat 11.
Like all NBA teams, the Clippers said they leave seats open just in case of emergency — whether that’s a broken chair or whatever else may disrupt the fan experience. (By reported attendance, it was a sellout though there appeared to be plenty of open seats.) Intuit Dome just has to account for one other variable: People like Chris.
But for whatever reason, Chris turned down opportunities both to change sections and to return to The Wall! in either his black tank top or a Clippers shirt the team gave him. He then calmly turned around and left Intuit Dome.
He is victim No. 1.
There will be more.
Steve and Ashley, two fans from Phoenix, received a warning from the convivial usher, Sharon, upon Steve sporting a Suns jersey.
“I was trying to save them so the fans didn’t attack them,” Sharon pleaded. “I wanted to do it in a fun way. I don’t want them to think we’re mean. C’mon now! This is The Wall! This is Clipper Nation!”
Not long after Chris arrived at customer service, Steve and Ashley did, too — only they were unaware of the situation. Despite the required survey, Steve says he somehow purchased seats at The Wall! without realizing the protocols.
“I think it’s cool,” Steve said. “I just wish I knew the deal.”
He and Ashley went through the same process as Chris did. Customer service — or, as they call it at Intuit Dome, “the answers portal” — offered them seats in another section, but they weren’t quite as good as theirs in The Wall!, where they were only a few rows back. The couple elected to return to their seats without donning any Suns gear.
A view of The Wall during Wednesday’s Suns-Clippers game. (Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)
Intuit Dome appears to be out of the future. The ushers who roam The Wall! are hardly the only line of defense.
To sit there, fans must download Intuit Dome’s app and set up a profile. From there, they have two options. Either they can save the tickets to their Apple wallets or they can take a photo of their face, which allows them to stroll into the building. Face ID cameras await fans at The Wall!’s special entrance, scattered along with security guards who are standing nearby with tablets, double-checking that every fan is vetted.
If a fan who has properly signed up on the app walks through the Face ID entrance, his or her profile will pop up on the tablet. If Face ID doesn’t recognize the person, a message that reads “unknown fan” will show, and security will double-check that this anonymous person is in the proper place and has tickets. It seems obvious what would happen if a fan were to prance in wearing any clothing supporting the other team. But life isn’t so simple, nor is The Wall!
The reality is that a person did successfully infiltrate The Wall! on Wednesday, and it wasn’t Chris, Steve, Ashley or any other adult who attended the overtime thriller.
Just before tipoff, a mother moseyed into the section with her son, a 2-year-old already in love with the game. On his chest, he wore a Kawhi Leonard jersey. In his hand was a Devin Booker one.
He couldn’t choose, his mother told a security guard smitten with the kid.
“That one,” the guard said, “I had to let go.”
(Photo of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer: Ronald Cortes / Getty Images)