Clipper Darrell, Clipped

In the beginning, before Clipper Darrell, back when they were in San Diego, the Clippers had a mascot, the San Diego Chicken, a giant stuffed bird in a jersey they shared with the Padres. He’d show up to cheer for one of the losingest teams in the league, roaming the Sports Arena sidelines, where he once famously taunted Larry Bird. When the team moved to LA in 1984, the bird stayed, and since then the Clippers haven't had much to cheer about or anyone who would do so in an official capacity. Always a reprehensible franchise on an organizational level, the team has, until this year, been historically crummy on the court as well. It was fair to assume the lack of a mascot was due more to lethargic and cruddy play and a franchise-wide culture of indifference than any sort of basketball’s-sake temperance.

But for the past ten years the woeful Clippers have had an unofficial mascot and an organized cheering section, a figure in a half-red, half-blue, totally shiny suit who goes by Clipper Darrell and posts up above the 100 section. Darrell Bailey, a 44-year-old car customizer from Lynwood, by his account has attended nearly 400 home games in a row, and is as permanent a fixture in Staples as purple and yellow seats, Kobe Bryant jerseys, and hair gel, cheering for and through all sorts of incarnations of terrible Clippers teams, and paying for the privilege to do so.

As the Clippers started winning over the past month, Darrell’s profile was raised, and disagreements between him and the franchise in the past—he sells “Clipper Darrell” wristbands and t-shirts on his website, and makes numerous public appearances—came to a head, with Darrell announcing Wednesday that team management wants him to stop being Clipper Darrell. (Being Clipper Darrell involved cheering and riding in a customized 1995 BMW and “performing community service, mentoring young children and [participating] in outreach programs.”) By mid-afternoon, he was trending nationally on Twitter and eliciting sympathy and support from numerous NBA writers and several Clippers players, including Chris Paul, the All-Star point guard who has engaged with him a bunch before on Twitter, and franchise savior Blake Griffin.

The support was expected. The Clippers, who have only recently not been terrible, still remain reliably loathsome. The team rarely extends players past their rookie contracts, and the guys they have been picking up, were, with few exceptions, on their last legs or just plain bad at NBA basketball. Clipper Darrell has been wearing the same uniform in Staples Center for a decade, and to the regulars he’s as synonymous with the team as the ownership, and much better loved. He has more Twitter followers than some players on the team, and his enthusiasm in infectious: He’s been extended “honorary fan” status for Long Beach State, and seems to have held up his end of the bargain.

The Clippers released a harshly-worded statement soon after Darrell’s, which said he was repeatedly asked to vet his appearances with the team, and that he didn’t. According to the statement, the Clippers never engaged his services, and have even given him tickets; his commercial gain is “unmonitored.” He was asked to either consult with the team or stop making appearances, and, again according to the statement, he offered to stop. Darrell is “not actually a fan of the Clippers, but a fan of what he can make off of the Clippers,” which is a damning statement, but, to be fair, applies to the team’s front office and prostitute fan Donald Sterling in particular.

Darrell was not in the employ of the team and wasn’t paid, and hasn’t always been supportive of the team—like many fans, he would cheer for Coach Mike Dunleavy to get fired—but he provided good vibes to a franchise that sorely lacked them. If the Clippers tried to bring him into the fold, as they said they did, he was wise to resist and make money his own way. Some are saying there’s hints of racism in the Clippers’ rejection of Darrell—this is a team that celebrated Black History Month in March—but even if it’s not out-and-out racism, this is clearly in bad taste and bad for PR. Then again, those are the kind of things that Sterling drinks in his milkshake.

The Clippers’ banishment of Darrell comes during a run of success more legitimate than any season they’ve had in L.A., and from here, it looks like he’s being big-timed. Darrell, who has gotten job offers from Mark Cuban—he rejected that one—has been since courted by the LA Sparks and likely has other good stuff coming down the pike. Even as the Clippers gets better, they can’t help but give fans a reason to boo.

@samreiss_