Ralph Lawler has been a fixture with the Clippers for 36 years, and so has his wife, Jo.
The Lawlers are such a good team that Jo travels with Ralph on the Clippers' chartered flights.
Even as Clippers coaches have changed, the Lawlers have maintained their travel itinerary which allows them to be together and dine with relatives and friends on the road. When Doc Rivers became coach in 2013, Rivers made sure there would be a spot on Clippers' flights for Jo Lawler, and these days, with so many members of NBA teams -- from staff and executives to players and coaches -- that's a big deal.
"He's earned it," Rivers said of Ralph Lawler. "He's the Tommy Hinesohn (Celtics broadcaster) of the Clippers. When you have a guy that's been in the organization his whole career and has given his life to an organization, you should pay him respects. He should get more stuff than anybody else."
The Lawlers have been married for 14 years, but they have known each other since 1979. Jo Lawler was a Clippers season ticket holder when they met, so she understood Ralph working nights and traveling and the crazy schedule that is the NBA.
"My love affair with my wife is unique," Lawler said. "I can't imagine anybody loving their partner any more than I love her. Every breath I take I'm just inhaling her presence. I just love being with her so much. I'm so lucky in this job where I travel so much that we're able to share this together and doubly lucky she loves it as much as I do. ... We're looking forward to where we're going to have dinner and who we're going to see. She's the most special thing I've ever been around. I'm a lucky guy."
The Lawlers got engaged on an NBA cruise, too. Their lives and love revolves around basketball.
"He loves broadcasting," Jo Lawler said. "He loves doing the games. the preparation is tough. He spends a lot of hours. Broadcasting the game is his love. When he gets a chance to do radio he loves that as well. He started in radio, and that's his true love .. He just loves what he does. He's always told me, as long as he's done a good game, he's won."
Jo Lawler was in the real estate business before retiring and now, she's devoted to her husband and the Clippers. She dines with Ralph in the media press room during pregame, then sits seven rows behind her husband, who broadcasts courtside. You can always find her reading a book.
The other day, while Lawler was conducting an interview, Jamal Crawford was participating in pregame warmups and saw Jo and went over to say hello and gave her a hug. That prompted Ralph Lawler to say his wife is almost like a team mom.
She appreciates being able to share the Clippers' experience with Ralph Lawler.
"That was really nice," Jo Lawler said. "It really shows respect for Ralph to allow me to continue to fly with the team. With the Clippers, I've always been able to fly whenever I've wanted to. That's been a nice perk."
As would be the Clippers winning an NBA championship. Ralph Lawler hopes to call the organization winning its first title and said it would be "agony" if they won and he wasn't calling it.
"If you ask Ralph about it, he'll hope it happens, not so much for him but his wife, sweet Jo," said Isaac Lowenkron, the Clippers' radio pre and postgame host. "On somewhat of a personal level, it's one of the great love stories I've ever observed first-hand, the love he has for his wife and the love they have for each other."
Ralph & Jo in Hawaii.
