If you’re a sports fan in Hawaii, you’ve occasionally surfed through the cluster of channels in the 1200 range in the eternal pursuit of something watchable. You’ve crossed over to Fox Sports Prime Ticket and been interrupted by —
“OH ME OH MY!”
“BINGO!”
And you stay.
Watch a Los Angeles Clippers broadcast for even a snippet and there’s a good chance you were greeted by one of those calling cards, courtesy of the team’s affable play-by-play man, Ralph Lawler.
This season, the first of a Clippers training camp in Hawaii, is the 39th of Lawler’s legendary career, which dates back to the franchise’s days in San Diego in the late 1970s. He called the NBA debuts of Julius Erving and Magic Johnson.
Now Lawler, 79, is here watching training camp at the Stan Sheriff Center, preparing to call the Clippers Hawaii Classic preseason games against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday and Tuesday.
He remembers instantly perking up this summer when he heard the news that the Clippers were Hawaii bound. He and his wife, Jo, have traveled to the islands many times, particularly Maui.
“I called my wife up and said, ‘Hey, good news, honey — we’re going to Hawaii in September.’
“It’s a terrific way to get started,” Lawler said. “It’ll be fun to have the two games here. It’s great for fans here to get to see NBA players firsthand. We were lucky in discovering a few years ago, Clipper games have been televised here for years on Fox Sports West Prime Ticket. And we were seated at an outdoor dining place on Maui a couple of years ago, the waiter came over and wanted an autograph. I said, ‘Are you from L.A.?’ He said, ‘No, we watch all your games!’ How cool is that? It’s really pretty neat. Now (to) get to see them firsthand here, it’ll be great for the fans.”
The Clippers have always played second fiddle to the Lakers, in L.A. as well as here. But TV availability and relative proximity, plus the Clippers’ recent competitiveness, has meant a small but loyal Clippers base locally.
Lawler has something of a cult following here himself, in no small part due to his broadcast quirks like Lawler’s Law (first team to 100 points wins the game).
“Ralph has been one of the staples of Clippers basketball and a joy to listen to throughout all these years,” said longtime local Clippers fan Alan Miya, a radio program director. “The last of the great hall of fame broadcasters that L.A. has been so accustomed to hearing.”
Calling the 2017-18 Clippers, starting this weekend, could be an adjustment for a man who saw the franchise finally pull itself out of the doldrums after year upon year of laughingstock status. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan made for an intriguing nucleus, albeit one that never made it to the Western Conference finals. Now Paul is with the Rockets and the Clippers have a host of new parts around Griffin and Jordan.
His reassuring tone could come in handy.
“It’s so darn different, because expectations have been so high the last three to six years,” Lawler said. “Chris joined the ballclub, and then Doc came in, and things got even higher expectations. Steve Ballmer came in, and expectations got even higher. And it was almost impossible to live up to those expectations. Because of injuries and misfortune, they never did. Every season wound up being a disappointment. This year, expectations are so much lower around the league, among the fan base in Southern California, and I suspect here in Hawaii as well. This team, I think the over/under for Vegas is 44 wins. This team has won way more than that each of the last six years. I think (there’s) a chance to overachieve, which is just a whole different dynamic from what we’re used to.”
Lawyer has a new color commentator this year in former San Antonio Spur Bruce Bowen, replacing Michael Smith.
The Peoria, Ill., native thinks he might have a couple of years of broadcasting left in him. Next season he’ll be 80, and it’ll be his 40th with the Clippers. The round numbers appeal to him.
Hawaii will still be there as a personal travel destination, if he’s not with the team on its next jaunt this way.
“I (know) the Lakers came here for years and years. We never had,” Lawler said. “It’s a first time, and I suspect it won’t be the last.”
