In an effort to improve youth fitness and access to sports in urban areas, the L.A. Clippers Foundation announced at a press conference in April that they would be making a $10 million-dollar donation to the L.A. Parks Foundation, to be used for the renovation of nearly 350 basketball courts in city parks by the year 2021. The hope is that improvements to public basketball courts will encourage more boys and girls to get involved in sports, leading to healthier lifestyles.

“It means so much to our children, to the community, and to the parents to have an organization where it’s more important to give back than to just win basketball games,” L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson said.

“This is an awesome opportunity for local youth,” Clippers guard Lou Williams said. “I’m a product of a community center just like this. My first basketball game was here, in a gym like this.”

The gift will go towards renovating 108 indoor courts and 236 outdoor courts across the city within the next three years. The upgrades will include new indoor gym flooring, asphalt for outdoor courts, backboards, hoops, scoreboards, and more.

The Department of Recreation and Parks recently inspected 344 basketball courts in the city and gave 104 courts a C grade or lower. Renovating the city’s public basketball courts, particularly in more economically disadvantaged areas, will have a long-term effect beyond the 2028 Olympics, Garcetti said. “Too often the conditions of courts are a barrier and could depend whether you have fun, become an athlete, or get healthier,” Garcetti said. “No parents will ever have to think twice again before they send their daughter or son to go play in a city park facility.”

GARED is proud to have partnered with the L.A. Parks Foundation for this project, having provided much of the outdoor basketball equipment for the renovations, including 664 polycarbonate backboards, 422 Endurance Slam Breakaway Rims, 242 Collegiate 2000+ Breakaway Rims, and 242 PMCE backboard pads. GARED’s passion for helping communities like the city of Los Angeles is just one example of the company’s ongoing mission to rebuild communities and rejuvenate play by providing equipment solutions to renovate green spaces and facilities.

The L.A. Clippers Foundation is a non-profit entity that was established in the summer of 1994 to increase the club's support of their surrounding communities by promoting positive educational, civic, environmental and humanitarian values. The foundation’s donations are primarily geared towards non-profit organizations in order to provide quality community programs, scholarships, and other opportunities for youth in and around the greater Los Angeles area.

Incorporated in 1922, GARED is known as the sporting goods industry’s leader in innovative product design and precision manufacturing. Their institutional and residential sports equipment can be found in a variety of play environments, including schools, parks, stadiums, churches, recreation centers, and correctional facilities, sold through a network of authorized dealers across the United States and worldwide.