So picture this. It’s mid-October on a typically beautiful Southern California night at the Staples Center, the first time in nearly six months that ball is in session.
It’s a time out during the fourth quarter. The score doesn’t really matter. The LA Clippers players’ are standing, some in warm-ups and some in uniforms, gathered around Doc Rivers and Sam Cassell, and now Ty Lue as well, going over Xs and Os on a small whiteboard. The fans are mugging on the DanceCam to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”, dancing and singing along with the lyrics, hoping to spot themselves on the big screen.