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The Los Angeles Clippers are currently fighting to keep their championship aspirations alive, even in a 2-2 playoff series with the Denver Nuggets.
But for the team’s longtime fans and owner Steve Ballmer, the 2024-25 season was an undeniable success, regardless of how the Clippers’ season ends.
After years of construction and commitment to being the world’s most tech indoor arena, Intuit Dome has proven to be a modern wonder among other sports and entertainment venues.
Bank WWE Money for Intuit Dome Debut
But at least the crown jewel in the Clipper’s Game is the “wall” and uninterrupted seats of 51 rows stacked high and vertically on one end of the arena.
When opposing players are forced to take a free throw in front of a wall, they must compete with a dedicated and highly vetted supporter section with a unified single goal: make them miss.
A fan of “The Wall” La Clippers during a free throw at Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California on November 20, 2024. (Getty Images)
Supporter sections are common in sports like soccer and can also be found in some baseball stadiums. However, they are very rare in indoor basketball arenas.
Often considered the other teams in LA, the Clippers offer affordable tickets to the most dedicated fans, bringing closer to the action and the benefits of a home court that they don’t enjoy at downtown’s Crypto.com arena.
So, after a year of noisy fans, distracting signs, synchronized dances, prepared chants and cheers, did the wall do its job?
According to Sportico, the data is overwhelmingly “yes.”
“Shooting against the wall, specifically, visitors only made 73.4% of foul shots, which is the last ranked in the NBA, lower than the 76.1% that we made, especially on the other end of the floor.”
The average percentage of shooting teams above 3% in one arena and the other teams is not unprecedented in itself, but there is certainly a huge gap from one side to the other.
Members of “Wall” try to deflect the warrior’s free throw shooter as the Clippers play Golden State at Int’t’ Dome. (Robert Gautier/Los Angeles Times Getty Images)
Looking at the effectiveness of the wall, only the 2014 Oklahoma City Thunder home arena had lower average opponents’ free throw rates compared to other parts of the league.
Thunder’s opponent eventually cracked the code in that arena the following year, Akabus wrote.
“In fact, there is a near zero correlation between the free throw percentage at the arena over the past 20 years and the percentage of the same arena for the next season.
It is unclear whether the Clippers’ new dig will really affect victory, and it is undoubtedly too early for a meaningful pattern to develop.
But Ballmer has repeatedly told the media that Intuit Dome is designed with home court advantage in mind.
There are many toilets for each attendee at the event, and there are more toilets than other venues in North America. Concession stands and product storefronts utilize grabs and technology through facial scans. And there are dozens of clocks until fans encourage them to return to their seats until action resumes.
“We don’t want people to wait in line. We want them to get back to their damn seats,” Ballmer told reporters during a 2022 construction site tour.
In addition to the wall, the top bowl sheet is closer to 45 feet to action than the crypto.com arena.
Ballmer bets that the more time fans spend in their seats, the more passion they have to behave, it only leads to good things.
So far, he’s been right.
To read the full Sportico report, click here.
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