The Los Angeles Clippers got a warm welcome from fans Tuesday night for their first home game since audio recordings of racist comments made by the team’s owner were released.
At the end of what was one of the more politically and emotionally charged nights in recent sports memory, the Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors, 113-103, to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
Fans entered an unusually dark Staples Center with advertising banners covered in black sheets. Due to the fall out of the Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s racial controversy, some advertisers didn’t want their brands represented at the game. Kia, CarMax, State Farm Insurance and Virgin America were just some of the companies to pull their sponsorship.
But Clippers fans inside and outside the Staples Center brought their own signs and t-shirts that made it clear they supported their team, and not the owner.
Some messages came on t-shirts.
Some fans also presented ideas for new owners:
In the end, the sentiment amongst fans was consistent when it came to Donald Sterling: they want the Clippers to “clip him” out.
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