The New Way of L.A.
The value of public relations is significant. Public relations is something that can make or break a sports organization. Bad public relations affected the sports organization that I’m about to talk about for years. The Sports Organization I’m talking about is the Los Angeles Clippers. The Los Angeles Clippers is a basketball team in the NBA. For a very long time, the Los Angeles Clippers have been a team that has never been on anyone’s radar. The Los Angeles Clippers rarely ever win, and they also have never had a real identity. I have always loved basketball. I have been watching basketball ever since I was a little kid. As I got older, I even learned the history of basketball. One thing I have learned is that the Los Angeles Clippers have never changed. The Los Angeles Clippers have always been the little brother organization to an NBA team called the Los Angeles Lakers. The Los Angeles Lakers are a sports public relations dream. They win way more than they lose, and the Lakers always had prominent personalities to market, and they are still in the news or trending, and it’s rarely ever controversial.
On the other hand, the Clippers are the exact opposite. The Clippers rarely win, rarely ever have anybody to market, and are seldom in the news unless it’s for something terrible. The clippers were what cricket is to major sports. I say that because cricket may be a good sport, it may get some ok ratings but compared to the big sports they have to go up against, like the NBA, NFL, or MLB there inferior. But just like cricket, the Clippers have hope. In 2014 when the Los Angeles Clippers once again underperformed in the playoffs and had their owner sell the team because of racist comments. It looked like the clippers franchise was over. It looked like the team relocating and changing their name was imminent. Then five years later, the Clippers got 2-star players named Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. A move that single-handedly saved the team from a competitive and public relations standpoint. Ever since then, the Clippers have been as famous and competitive as they have ever been. They rebranded the whole team and have made multiple commercials that got a lot of air time on ESPN. When I saw their very first commercial, I was surprised because the Clippers were a team that rarely succeeded in branding; as I said earlier in the article, I have watched and studied basketball my whole life, and that was the first time I had ever seen the clippers do a commercial or anything public relations related. It’s crazy that all because of 2 players, rebranding, and strategic marketing, the Clippers went from one of the worst teams to one of the most notable NBA teams. That is a prime example that anything can happen in sports.
ODU Sports Insider: Jordan Rucker
