Welcome to 213Hoops! Our mission is to provide Clippers fans with the best content around, and that’s why we’ve put together a staff of writers who will bring top-notch coverage and analysis to our readers. While many of you may know our contributors from their earlier work covering the Clippers, we wanted everyone to have a chance to re-introduce themselves to let you get to know them a little bit better. Check out this Q&A with 213Hoops contributor Thomas Wood.

1. How did you become a Clippers fan?
   My dad ran a wheel business for much of my childhood. Tony Massenburg was one of my dad’s customers during his lone season with the Clippers and kicked us tickets to a couple games. I assume Tony had trouble offloading his Clipper tickets, because I’m not sure the guy he bought wheels from once or twice would otherwise rank very highly. Either way, the first game I saw was a double-overtime victory over Boston, and the rest, they might say, was misery. I didn’t care though. I didn’t know any other Clipper fans, so the team felt like mine and mine alone. Plus, parking at the Sports Arena was easy. Twenty-five years on, the Clippers still kinda feel like they belong only to me, but it’s nice to know others that probably feel the same way too.
2. Who is your favorite basketball player (not necessarily Clippers player) ever?
   I tend to be fickle, so for this week I’ll say Steve Nash. To answer more than I was asked, my first favorite Clipper was Pooh Richardson, and my current favorite Clipper is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. I’m sorry, what’s that you say…?
3. What is your favorite thing to do outside watch (and write about) the NBA?
   Watch other sports. I’ve spread my sports viewing interests precariously thin.
4. What’s one movie, song, or book that you think more people should know about?
   I’m cheating again, but I’ll say anything by Andy Shauf.
5. What’s the coolest thing that can happen in a basketball game and why?
   When the Lakers lose.

213Hoops is an independent Los Angeles Clippers blog and fan community founded in February 2020 by a group of dedicated, long-time Clippers fans, writers, and podcasters.  You can support us by following us on twitter @213Hoops and subscribing to our Patreon for rewards and bonus content.

Meet 213Hoops Contributor Thomas Wood
Lucas Hann

Welcome to 213Hoops! Our mission is to provide Clippers fans with the best content around, and that’s why we’ve put together a staff of writers who will bring top-notch coverage and analysis to our readers. While many of you may know our contributors from their earlier work covering the Clippers, we wanted everyone to have a chance to re-introduce themselves to let you get to know them a little bit better. Check out this Q&A with 213Hoops contributor Kenneth Armstrong.

1. How did you become a Clippers fan?
   My dad and I went to a random Clippers game during the 2002-03 season and had a great time. So, on a whim, he got us season tickets for the 2003-04 season, and we’ve had them since. I was about 9 when we started, and I’ve become an increasingly obsessed Clippers fan ever since. 
2. Who is your favorite basketball player (not necessarily Clippers player) ever?
   Cuttino Mobley. He was on those mid-oughts Clippers teams and just had a certain swagger to him. He also played with my second and third favorite players (Steve Francis and Sam Cassell), so I found myself drawn to watching his game.
3. What is your favorite thing to do outside watch (and write about) the NBA?
   Until two years ago, it was running/ following track and field (I competed through college). Now, my favorite thing to do is keep up with my pen pals (yes, I have pen pals with whom I exchange letters throughout the year).
4. What’s one movie, song, or book that you think more people should know about?
   My favorite book ever is The Sellout by Paul Beatty. It’s an incredibly strange, funny book. Also, the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra turned a book of Langston Hughes poems into an album and it’s amazing. I wish more people knew about those two things.
5. What’s the coolest thing that can happen in a basketball game and why?
   The coolest thing that can happen while watching a game in an arena is catching a free tee shirt (I am proud to have caught 40+ during my time as a season ticket holder). The coolest thing that can happen on the court is a chase-down block. I’ve always preferred defensive over offensive highlights and the chase-down block is the ultimate display of athletic ability and effort.

213Hoops is an independent Los Angeles Clippers blog and fan community founded in February 2020 by a group of dedicated, long-time Clippers fans, writers, and podcasters.  You can support us by following us on twitter @213Hoops and subscribing to our Patreon for rewards and bonus content.

Meet 213Hoops Contributor Kenneth Armstrong
Lucas Hann

Welcome to 213Hoops! Our mission is to provide Clippers fans with the best content around, and that’s why we’ve put together a staff of writers who will bring top-notch coverage and analysis to our readers. While many of you may know our contributors from their earlier work covering the Clippers, we wanted everyone to have a chance to re-introduce themselves to let you get to know them a little bit better. Check out this Q&A with 213Hoops contributor Chris Murch.

1. How did you become a Clippers fan?
   I remember it vividly. I was five years old and watching a Lakers preseason game in my kitchen on a TV about the size of a cereal box. I remember watching them and just being like “nah”, and immediately started rooting for the Clippers. Right then I made a choice to be a mostly miserable sports fan for my existence up until this point, and wouldn’t trade it for the world.
2. Who is your favorite basketball player (not necessarily Clippers player) ever?
    I cried when Michael Jordan didn’t win the All-Star Game MVP in his final year with the Washington Wizards. He’s my all-time #1. However, I was eight when his career ended so for “new era” sake, I’ll go with Blake Griffin. He is a huge reason LA is where they are currently, and I will forever be indebted to him. Plus the dude is a legit comic and a solid actor. He has a bright future ahead of him even though his playing career has sadly been super derailed by injury.
3. What is your favorite thing to do outside watch (and write about) the NBA?
   I enjoy consuming a lot of things. Big movie and TV guy. Big comedy club guy. Love to read — currently reading comedian Norm Macdonald’s “memoir” Based on a True Story which is so outlandishly not true yet hilarious, hence the quotes around memoir. I also love hanging with friends and tipping a few (or more than a few) back and getting into heated debates over whether or not Nicolas Cage is a good actor. He is.
4. What’s one movie, song, or book that you think more people should know about?
    If you don’t listen to World Is Yours by Nas at least once a day, your day isn’t complete.
5. What’s the coolest thing that can happen in a basketball game and why?
   I’m a fan of the kiss cam. Always makes for good entertainment. On the court? Probably when someone executes a great triple-threat, takes two dribbles into the mid-range and hits a soft bank shot. I’m white. I’m a sucker for fundamentals and boring basketball.

213Hoops is an independent Los Angeles Clippers blog and fan community founded in February 2020 by a group of dedicated, long-time Clippers fans, writers, and podcasters.  You can support us by following us on twitter @213Hoops and subscribing to our Patreon for rewards and bonus content.

Meet 213Hoops Contributor Chris Murch
Lucas Hann