Intuit Dome opens its doors to Los Angeles Clippers fans

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The flashy new Intuit Dome opened its doors to basketball fans for the first time Monday night as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks 110-96 in a preseason game in front of 13,400 fans.

The arena has been hosting concerts since August, but this is the first game in the more than $2 billion vision of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. Fans streamed in through doors using facial recognition. A double-sided halo board showed photos, videos, statistics and more.

The Clippers were one of three tenants of the crypto.com Arena, sharing space with the Lakers and the Kings. Now they’ve got their own address.

“It’s a great feeling to have a place to call home. Guys are very excited about it,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Our whole organization is excited about it. Tonight our fans get the chance to see a part of it. You have a chance to have our own place we call home. You can leave your shoes in the locker room and come back tomorrow and they’ll be there. We have our own place and own building and everything is secure.”

Derrick Jones Jr. — who signed with the Clippers in the offseason — scored 12 points.

“I love it. ... The arena is amazing,” Jones Jr. said. “I definitely like it. It’s probably one of the best I’ve ever stepped foot in and the practice facility, too. I’m glad to be able to play here in the Intuit Dome and be the first team to play here.”

On “60 Minutes,” which aired Sunday, Ballmer showed off his new building, which he hopes will give his NBA team a boost.

“Everything in my instinct says it will help our team, our basketball team, if our crowd team can really get into it and give them energy,” Ballmer said.

Ballmer was there and sat courtside under one of the baskets, which is about the same spot he sat at the previous building. When tne Clippers' Ivica Zubac made a hook shot in the second quarter, Ballmer displayed his trademark fist pumps and enthusiasm.

As fans entered the arena, they found an 80,000-square-foot outdoor plaza with a basketball court that’s open to the public.

Patricia Blakemore was jumping up and down when she arrived in the arena.

“It’s so high tech,” said Blakemore, who lives in nearby Manhattan Beach. “I have to say one of the things that makes me exceptionally happy is that from the moment we parked our car to get in here, the staff has been very helpful.”

When asked how long he’s been a Clippers fan, Eric Swallow said since Monday. He just bought season tickets.

“It’s a new stadium and it’s close to Manhattan Beach,” Swallow said. That was all it took for the Clippers to gain a new fan.

Estelle Talleu and Matteo Decarlini came from France to visit Los Angeles and go to the game.

“I love basketball, and I wanted to see L.A. and this atmosphere,” Decarlini said. “In France, it’s not the same. There’s nothing like this. This arena is so big.”

Talleu loved the halo board: “It’s amazing.”

She was taking lots of videos, as were many fans in the nearly 18,000-seat arena.

There’s also an abundance of bathrooms, and Ballmer boasted about the 1,400 toilets on “60 Minutes.” There’s good reason.

“I really hate it when people wait in line,” Ballmer told “60 Minutes.” “Waiting in line for toilets, I think is — it stops people from getting back into the game. People get frustrated.”

The Intuit Dome is in an area that’s exploding with sports and entertainment. It’s less than a mile from Sofi Stadium — where the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers call home — and The Kia Forum, which hosts concerts and used to be home to the Lakers.

The arena is carbon-free and cashless and has all the bells and whistles.

Juvenal Martinez, who is 14, came to the game with his uncle.

“The arena is good. I like it. I like all the technology and the facial scan to get in,” he said.

There were some hiccups, of course. During the first first quarter, the halo board had the score at 19-19 in the first quarter, but the score was actually 23-22 and that score was correct in many other places around the arena. The score was updated within a couple of minutes.

Ballmer broke ground on the arena in 2021 and it opened its doors in August. It is schedule to host many big events, including the 2026 All-Star Game and basketball for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“This is beautiful,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “To be able to practice here (Sunday) and have shootaround here, they did an incredible job. I think Clippers fans should be happy. When you look at fan experience it will be like no other. It will be exciting to be the first visiting team to experience that.”

Mavericks stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and the Clippers' Kawhi Leonard didn’t play.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

A commercial jet passes by the Intuit Dome, the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Fans enter the Intuit Dome, the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers, before the team's NBA preseason basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

An aerial view shows the Intuit Dome, the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Fans play basketball outside the Intuit Dome, the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers, before the team's NBA preseason basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Fans walk on a bridge to the Intuit Dome, the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers, before the team's NBA preseason basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Two fans take a selfie outside the Intuit Dome, the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers, before the team's NBA preseason basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)