Taylor Swift Gets Banner at L.A.’s Staples Center — Before the Clippers

Awkward.

In the course of her rather short career Wyomissing native Taylor Swift has already sold out 16 shows at Los Angeles’s Staples Center. She’s in the midst of playing five of those this week. You’ve no doubt heard about them on the news, especially her star-studded special-guest appearances, which have ranged from everyone from Mary J. Blige and Chris Rock to Alanis Morissette.

So to honor her achievement of having the most sold-out performances at the venue, L.A. Lakers player Kobe Bryant showed up one night to present her a covetable banner that will hang in the rafters alongside sports heroes who played and dominated there, folks like other Lakers greats Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain.

A nice gesture, no doubt, but one, as Sports Grid points out, that likely didn’t rest well with the other hometown team, the Los Angeles Clippers, who have a grand total of zero banners hanging in those rafters. The team is about to embark on its 46th season as an NBA franchise. Ouch.

The Clippers haven’t commented on the situation,” writes Sports Grid. “This isn’t the first time they’ve had a ‘controversy’ over championship banners. In 2013, new head coach Doc Rivers had the Lakers’ championship banners covered by oversized posters of Clippers players that would be displayed during Clipper home games.” I would make a “Bad Blood” reference here if Sports Grid hadn’t already done it. Read the rest of their story here.