A year after the Los Angeles Lakers said “Hawaii has been like a second home …” to the franchise, the other NBA team in L.A., the Clippers, is moving in.
The Clippers will hold their 2017-18 training camp at the University of Hawaii and play two exhibition games at the Stan Sheriff Center, the Hawaii Tourism Authority announced Monday. The Toronto Raptors are expected to provide the opposition, the HTA said.
The deal comes with options for three more years through 2020, said Leslie Dance, HTA vice president of marketing and product development.
Included in the stay will be a “Fan Fest” featuring players and coaches, the HTA said.
The Lakers have called Hawaii their training-camp home 13 times since 1988, most recently in 2015-16. This year the Lakers held their camp in Santa Barbara, Calif.
The Lakers have scheduled their 2017-18 training camp for El Segundo, Calif., where their 120,000-square-foot facility, the UCLA Health Training Center, is scheduled to open in the summer. “Beyond that, we don’t have plans for any future training camps,” a Lakers spokesman said in an email to the Star-Advertiser.
Meanwhile, the HTA-Clippers “marketing partnership is ideal for both of our futures,” Dance said in a release. “The Clippers are one of the NBA’s hottest teams, with a growing fan base in Hawaii and across the Pacific, and the Hawaiian Islands is a favorite destination for travelers from southern California.”
Gillian Zucker, Clippers president of business operations, said in a statement, “This unique partnership is another step in (owner) Steve Ballmer’s vision of expanding the Clippers brand, while also providing our fans in Hawaii with the opportunity to see NBA basketball in person.”
Dance said as part of the deal the HTA, whose biggest market is Southern California, will have signage at Clippers games in the Staples Center throughout the season.
“The goal is that they become like Hawaii’s team,” Dance said. “I mean, that, I think, is their goal, Steve Ballmer’s goal. So this is a win-win for both of us.”
A UH spokesman said the school’s portion of the contract has yet to be finalized.