On August 15, 2024, the Intuit Dome opened in Inglewood. Two billion dollars, privately financed by Steve Ballmer, and designed around one obsession: basketball, with no hockey lines, no other tenants, and no one else's banners in the rafters. For the first time in franchise history, the Clippers are nobody's roommate.
The building as a statement
The Dome's signature is The Wall: 51 uninterrupted rows of seats behind the opponent's basket, reserved for the loudest fans, where opposing jerseys are not welcome. Add the halo scoreboard that wraps the entire bowl, and the message is clear. This franchise spent five decades as a guest. It does not intend to feel like one ever again.
For fans who sat in a half-empty Sports Arena, or bought upper-deck Staples seats under someone else's championship banners, walking into this building is genuinely emotional. Empty rafters never looked so much like a promise.
Season one: the happy surprise
The first Dome season, 2024-25, was supposed to be a rebuild in disguise. Paul George had just left for nothing. Instead, Ivica Zubac turned into one of the best two-way centers in basketball, James Harden carried the offense back to an All-Star level, Norman Powell played the best ball of his career, and the Clippers won 50 games. It ended the most Clippers way possible, a Game 7 loss in Denver, and it was still the most fun anyone had watching this team since 2021.
Season two: the honest one
The 2025 offseason got ambitious. Chris Paul came home at age 40 to finish what he started. Bradley Beal arrived after a buyout, Brook Lopez signed on, and John Collins came over in the Powell trade. On paper, a deep and fascinating roster. On the court, 42-40, ninth in the West, and a play-in loss to Golden State in April 2026. Age and injuries did what they do.
We are not going to spin that, because that is not what this site is for. The record is the record. The building is the best in basketball, and the next great Clippers team will not have to share its address with anyone.
The turn: an unresolved trade and a league ruling
On June 30, 2026, reports outlined an agreement to send Kawhi Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and draft assets. This page previously called that a completed July 1 trade. That description was premature. See the dated Kawhi update for the transaction's status.
On September 2, the NBA imposed salary-cap circumvention penalties that reach into this era's leadership and draft future. The league announcement and our Kawhi aftermath record document the decision, the team's response and what remains unresolved.
- $2BThe privately financed cost of Intuit Dome. No public money.
- 51Rows in The Wall, the all-home-fans section behind the opposing basket.
- 50-32The surprise first season at the Dome, 2024-25.
- 42-40Season two, ending in the play-in. The record is the record.
A home, not a clean slate
The Dome gives Clippers fans something previous generations never had: a home built for their team. It does not guarantee sound decisions or erase accountability. The next chapter has to earn its optimism on and off the court. The history on this site exists so new fans inherit the whole story, the 12-70 and the 50-win surprises alike.
This page will keep updating as the era unfolds. When something big happens, we will write it down here, plainly, the way we have written down everything else for the past 55 years.
- StartNew here because of the Dome? Read the 5 minute story.
- PlayBuild the timeline that ends in a parade: Chase the Banner.
- ShareAt the Dome's first game? Put your memory on the record.