INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A cardboard tray filled with chicken fingers can hide more than you think. On Wednesday, a man named Chris made LA Clippers history.

You see, Chris had a plan. As a Los Angeles resident, he attended the very first regular season game at the Clippers’ new arena. He entered enemy territory and used his chicken fingers to get there. His friend, a Clippers fan, invited him to opening night. But Chris was a fan of the visiting Phoenix Suns.

He wanted to show it – and chose the worst section.

A unique NBA feature engulfs the area behind a basket in the posh Intuit Dome. That’s the wall! No, no one is screaming. At The Wall! The exclamation mark is available for free (the exclamation mark is actually part of the proper name).

The wall! is a place from Clippers fans and for Clippers fans. Everyone else, including Chris, is an intruder. It’s a 4,500-seat area that’s aptly named. It’s so steep it would make even a mountain goat dizzy, with 144 steps leading from the pitch to the top level. It is the student section of Steve Ballmer University.

THE WALL‼️ pic.twitter.com/p23jRmsxSR

– LA Clippers (@LAClippers) October 24, 2024

The Clippers have a review process. Buy tickets at The Wall! involves answering a questionnaire that proves the fan base. The middle part of the section just stands. Fans who arrived Wednesday found rubber chickens of Chuck the Condor, the team’s mascot, on their seats. Cheer on against the Clippers in The Wall! is prohibited, as is wearing the gear of another NBA team. Both can result in you being removed from the wall! Not just for the night, but forever.

But Chris wanted to represent his team, so he came up with a plan.

He rolled up a Kevin Durant jersey into a tight ball and carried it under the tray. The hint of purple material that flowed from his hand wasn’t enough to set off alarm bells as he entered the wall!

Unfortunately, his fortune was not left – for The Wall! is so impenetrable that even a Corey Maggette in his prime couldn’t get past it.

Finally, Chris tried to slip his Durant jersey over the black tank top he was wearing when he got to his seat. Within moments he was out, the first fan in Clippers history to ask to leave The Wall.

“He smuggled it in,” said Yolanda, an usher who works in the department and was nearby when Chris got the hold. Then she smiled, leaned forward, and continued with the tone of a seventh-grade teacher who had just caught two children passing notes around the classroom.

“He was very smart,” she said.

This was classic Yolanda.

Remove a fan from The Wall, of course! is not the same experience as throwing out an aggressive or drunk person. Security didn’t escort Chris out.

He strolled down the hall after taking off his Durant jersey and holding it in his right hand. He went to the customer service department where the Clippers offered him and his buddy a new pair of seats that weren’t available at The Wall! Christian, a gentleman at the counter when Chris arrived, called it an upgrade: Main 1, row 21, seat 11.

Like all NBA teams, the Clippers said they will only leave their seats open in case of an emergency – be it a broken chair or whatever else could disrupt the fan experience. (Based on reported attendance, it was sold out, although there appeared to be plenty of spots left.) Intuit Dome only has one more variable to consider: people like Chris.

But for whatever reason, Chris turned down the opportunity to both change departments and return to The Wall! either in his black tank top or a Clippers jersey that the team had given him. Then he calmly turned around and left Intuit Dome.

He is victim number 1.

There will be more.

Steve and Ashley, two fans from Phoenix, received a warning from gregarious usher Sharon when Steve wore a Suns jersey.

“I tried to save her so the fans wouldn’t attack her,” Sharon pleaded. “I wanted to do it in a fun way. I don’t want them to think we’re mean. Come on! That’s the wall! This is Clipper Nation!”

Not long after Chris arrived for customer service, Steve and Ashley also arrived – only they were unaware of the situation. Despite the required survey, Steve says he somehow bought seats at The Wall! without knowing the protocols.

“I think it’s cool,” Steve said. “I just wish I knew the deal.”

He and Ashley went through the same process as Chris. Customer service – or, as they call it at the Intuit Dome, “the response portal” – offered them seats in a different area, but they weren’t quite as good as in The Wall!, where they sat just a few rows back. The couple decided to return to their seats without putting on the Suns gear.

A look at The Wall during Wednesday’s Suns-Clippers game. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

Intuit Dome doesn’t seem to be in the future. The ushers roaming the wall! are hardly the only line of defense.

To sit there, fans will need to download the Intuit Dome app and set up a profile. From there you have two options. They can either save the tickets in their Apple wallets or take a photo of their face and then enter the building. Face ID cameras await fans at The Wall!’s special entrance, along with security guards standing nearby with tablets checking to ensure each fan is screened.

When a fan who has properly registered in the app goes through the Face ID entrance, their profile will appear on the tablet. If Face ID does not recognize the person, an “Unknown Fan” message will appear and security will double check that this anonymous person is in the correct location and has tickets. It seems obvious what would happen if a fan pranced around in any clothing to support the other team. But life isn’t that easy, and neither is The Wall!

The reality is that one person managed to infiltrate The Wall! on Wednesday, and there were no Chris, Steve, Ashley or any other adults in attendance for the overtime thriller.

Just before the tip-off, a mother strolled into the department with her son, a 2-year-old who was already in love with the game. He wore a Kawhi Leonard jersey on his chest. In his hand was one belonging to Devin Booker.

He couldn’t decide, his mother told a security guard who was thrilled with the child.

“That,” said the guard, “I had to let go of that.”

(Photo by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer: Ronald Cortes / Getty Images)