213Hoops: A New Home for L.A. Clippers Fans

When I first joined this community over a decade ago, the site (which looked drastically different) had a simple tagline: “smart guys who know the game of basketball.”

While the operation has grown quite a bit since then, first under Steve Perrin, who brought me on to the staff, and then under myself and Robert Flom, the core mission has been the same: we wanted a site that was a place for a Clippers fan community to have smart, informed conversations about the team. From Steve’s famed perspective pieces to the salary cap analyses offered by former editor-turned-NBA legal staffer Larson Ishii to the insightful observations offered in game recaps by dozens of contributors and community members over the years, the goal of the site’s written content has always been to provide an informative (and occasionally provocative) starting ground for a rich conversation among our community and across the NBA web.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are running out of time to use this blog and this URL as a home for our content and community. This realization has caused Robert and I to spend the last week coming up with plans for what could be next.

Now, we’re ready to loop you in. We’re excited to announce that we are starting 213Hoops, a new L.A. Clippers Blog and Community. No corporate overlords. No paywall. We’ll keep bringing you the best Clippers content around, and provide a place for our community to congregate.

To make it all work, we need your help.

A lot of you have told Robert and me in the last week that you would be willing to pitch in towards the costs of starting a new site, or pay for a subscription to keep accessing our content. While neither of us wants to put the entire new blog behind a paywall, which would restrict the conversations we could have in the comments, we are going to use Patreon subscriptions to fund-raise our start-up costs and, once we get going, supplement our ad revenue so that we can pay the writers who put in the extra hours to create content for the site. So access to the site is going to be completely free—but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t offering perks to those who are able and willing to chip in.

Here are the current subscription tiers we’re offering:

$1: Help us build a sustainable community. If everyone who read the old blog contributed $1 a month, the new site would make more in a week than the old one did in a year. Now, we know not everyone who clicks onto the blog is going to pay, but if you are someone who reads the articles, listens to the podcasts, follows on social media, and joins the conversation in the comments regularly, we hope you’ll help us get the ball rolling. This is crucial if we want to fund the start-up costs for a new site and fulfill our mission of paying contributors. Your support helps us build and maintain a sustainable community for all Clippers fans, and as a thank-you you’ll have access to periodic bonus episodes of The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast—including one this week with Robert, Shapan, and myself.

$5: If you’re able to give us a bigger boost, we’ll give you a follow from our @ClipsNationSBN twitter account. You’ll also have access to the aforementioned bonus episodes of The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast.

$10: In addition to receiving a twitter follow and having access to bonus podcast episodes, subscribers at the $10 tier will receive a shout-out at the end of an episode of The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast.

$20: For those generous supporters who are willing to support us at this level, you will be thanked for your support during the credits of The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast once a month. Currently, we’re only offering 20 of these (appx. 5 supporters per episode). You will also receive a twitter follow and access to bonus podcasts.

$25: The new website is going to commemorate Clips Nation history and establish the mission of 213Hoops. You can be a part of making 213Hoops history by supporting us at this tier and being a “Founding Community Member” whose name will be listed on the masthead of the new site. You will also be listed in the credits of a 213Hoops podcast, receive a twitter follow, and have access to bonus podcasts.

$50: This one is for TLTJTP superfans—if you are willing and able to make this massive commitment, you will be allowed to record an episode of The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast as a guest host with Robert and Shap. You will also, of course, have access to all of the wonderful things available at the other tiers.

If you’re interested in subscribing, you can find our Patreon page here.

These Patreon tiers might well shift over time, both in terms of content and dollar amount depending on reaction/use. We have never done a Patreon before, and are absolutely flexible in listening to any desires for additional content or beneficial changes.

As a side note, my understanding is that Patreon will charge your subscription when you sign up, and then again on the first of each month.

For those of you who have been following our work for a long time (Steve started this thing 14 years ago!), we hope you’ll join us on this next step in our journey. For those of you who are new, welcome aboard. We’re glad to have you. If this community is meaningful to you, please consider subscribing, even at the $1 tier, to help us make this dream a reality.

Our goal launch date for 213Hoops is February 1st. Your support now will help us have everything ready by then. Please consider subscribing here.