The L.A. Clippers Foundation, along with Clippers guard Patrick Beverley and the Yael and Scooter Braun Family Foundation, hosted the opening of the new 107th Street Elementary School playground on Tuesday. On hand for the press conference and ribbon cutting were Clippers President Gillian Zucker and Beverley, along with Clippers players Lou Williams, Milos Teodosic and Willie Reed.
Beverley first visited the school with the Clippers in September of 2017, and following his visit, he challenged the Clippers to do more to help. He then came across Yael Cohen Braun’s GoFundMe page for the school, and helped bring the entire Clippers family together to complete the project. Yael and her husband Scooter – who is the founder of SB Projects and manages the careers of stars including Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and The Black Eyed Peas – are Clippers season ticket holders. Yael’s birthday wish was to give 107th Street Elementary School a new playground and the Brauns contributed their own funds to the project as well.
107th Street Elementary School, located in Watts, is near the top of the list of schools in Los Angeles that are in need of new facilities and financial support. The renovations include a newly-created sports field and mini park, a resurfaced blacktop for the playground and basketball courts, and new basketball hoops.
Zucker and Beverley, along with the Brauns and 107th Street Principal Katherine Nelson, each addressed the crowd, before fifth grader Hailey Velasquez thanked the Clippers and the Brauns for their support. Then, all four Clippers and the Brauns played soccer and shot hoops with students, all of whom were decked out in new Clippers shirts.
Tuesday marked the third time the Clippers have refurbished a court in the community this season. On Dec. 19, the G League Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario opened and dedicated newly refurbished basketball courts at De Anza Park in Ontario. In November, the Clippers unveiled a new playground at 24th Street Elementary School. They also renovated a computer lab in Hawaii in October and have now completed one refurbishment per month this season.
Tuesday also represented the Clippers’ second community school event in the past week, following the Vision to Learn press conference that happened at Flournoy Elementary School in South Los Angeles last Tuesday, at which Blake Griffin and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer announced that every student in the Los Angeles Unified School District would receive free eye exams and glasses.