Assane Drame, an employee of the Clippers digital content group who was remembered by the team and friends as a creative mind and a loyal friend died Monday in a Los Angeles car accident, according to the team.
Drame was 26 years old. He had lived in Los Angeles since 2019, when he was hired by the Clippers as a video intern. He later became a video assistant within the department and was known for his work creating video vignettes posted on social media.
In a statement, the team said it was mourning a dedicated employee known as more than a videographer.
“He was a hard worker and gentle soul, passionate about his craft and kind to his colleagues, earning the respect and admiration of players, coaches and staff,” the team said.
Drame was born in the Bronx borough of New York City and later raised in New Jersey, southeast of Philadelphia, where he attended high school, according to his personal website. He graduated from Rowan University with a bachelor’s degree in radio, television and film, after working as a cameraman within the school’s athletic department, according to his LinkedIn profile, and contributed analysis on the Phoenix Suns to a blog where his biography described himself as “one of three or four Suns fans in the area.”
She also worked on the school’s television network, where she stood out as “a positive and jovial person,” said Taylor Forte, who met Drame while working on shows at the network and later moved to Los Angeles.
“What stood out is his presence when he was in the building,” Forte said. “Even if we weren’t on the same show at the same time, whoever you crossed in the hall would have a big, big smile.”
Drame had worked in the team’s media Monday at their Playa Vista facility and late that night stopped by the team’s center office to pick up the equipment, according to a roommate, Marina López. When he was not heard from the following afternoon, and his car was not found on the Palms property where they lived with another roommate, she filed a missing person report with Los Angeles police Tuesday afternoon. Friends from the city began searching for his whereabouts on social media, he said. On the same day, the head of the Clippers’ human resources department contacted Drame’s father and sister in New Jersey because he was concerned about her whereabouts.
Drame’s sister, Fatou, initially took the search for her brother to social media on Wednesday morning, but wrote on Twitter in the afternoon that he had died in an accident.
“I just heard the sad news,” Clippers forward Nicolas Batum wrote on Twitter. “Rest in peace King.”
Sam Taylor, a friend who met Drame on Rowan, was surprised that even while building credentials in a competitive media industry, Drame took the time to raise awareness of the work of other creators he met or admired on social media. .
“So supportive, so welcoming, so nice, so kind, at all times,” Taylor said. “It’s hard to be a good person in this world, but he was someone, everything he did exemplified what a good person is.”
When Drame moved from a living community in October, she wrote López, one of her roommates at the time, a note to thank her while stating that “imagine we’re in an anime, and you’re reading this as my voice. it’s in your head, ”López said. The roommates had taught Drame how to do laundry, he said; He taught them about Islam and his background as a first-generation American whose family came from Senegal.
“Keep your head up, you have a solid head on your shoulders and you just need to focus, go deep, start with the end in mind, you will be fine as long as you stay and stay positive, remember that,” Drame wrote in his note, according to Lopez. “There are people who really care about you. Of course you are aware of this, but the real ones know it. “
Drame, Lopez and another roommate moved back in together again in May, he said. He recalled Drame’s ability to act as a calm mediator in the midst of miscommunication, with a fondness for brightly colored clothing, who spoke often about his desire to one day become a husband and father. Drame and Lopez had discussed taking a trip to San Francisco in October.
“This world would be a better place with people like Assane,” he said. “He loved to talk about things that needed to change in the world.”
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