The preseason will deliver an NBA postseason-worthy matchup, with the Los Angeles Clippers scheduled to play the Houston Rockets on Oct. 4 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The game highlights a week-long, star-studded training camp for the Clippers with a compelling matchup of their newly acquired Kawhi Leonard, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, and Paul George opposing the Rockets’ James Harden, the two-time NBA scoring leader, and Chris Paul.
Two days later, Oct. 6, the Clippers will play the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s recently signed contract with the Clippers. The Sharks once starred Hall of Famer Yao Ming, who bought the team 10 years ago while in the midst of an eight-year career with the Rockets.
The contract was obtained under the state’s open records statute.
The games are part of the HTA’s outreach in Southern California, its largest visitor market.
It is the third consecutive year the Clippers will hold camp and play exhibitions games at the University of Hawaii.
For its $650,000 sponsorship, the HTA has also secured a series of community engagement events here, including a youth basketball clinic, a media/computer lab refurbishment at a school on the west side of Oahu and a coaches clinic for middle and high school-level coaches.
In addition the HTA gets signage and media exposure at Clippers home games and promotional rights.
The Clippers, who recently beefed up their roster with the acquisition of Leonard and George, have been tabbed as preseason NBA favorites by oddsmakers.
George was the NBA’s second leading scorer at 28 points a game in 2018-19 with the Oklahoma City Thunder, while Leonard was sixth at 26.6 in leading the Toronto Raptors to their first NBA title.
Harden averaged 36.1 points a game this season to lead the NBA and also topped the league in 2017-18 at 30.4 when he was the MVP. Paul averaged 15.6 points per game this season and was third in the league with 8.2 assists per game.
ESPN reported the Rockets could also be in the market for Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, although that would likely mean trading Paul.
Event times, dates of the ticket sales and pricing have yet to be announced.
