L.A. Rivalry: Steve Ballmer’s Team Can’t Catch Up
Tonight is the second meeting of Lakers vs. Clippers.
By all accounts, this was the year the Clippers would grab Los Angeles by the throat. Projected to win 50+ games, the Clippers were penciled in by many experts to make it to the NBA Finals, a first for them. In Los Angeles, that is as close to perfection as you can get; the town loves winners.
For such a long time, the Clippers have been the undercard, the afterthought, the team with the cheaper seats. The Clippers occupy a city that yawns at their existence. But getting to the NBA Finals would grow their base, pulling in the casual fan or the disappointed Lakers fan. Getting to the NBA Finals would alter the calculus. After all of these years, the Clippers would finally be beloved.
Oct 31, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24), guard Jeremy Lin (17) and Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) battle for the ball in the second half of the game at Staples Center. Clippers won 118-111. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
But a funny thing happened between training camp and January 7th. The Los Angeles Clippers can’t beat winning teams. At times, the Clippers are a terrible defensive team, unable to stop perimeter shooters, seemingly stuck in the mud. And no one seems to have the answers as to why.
Because of their unexpected mediocrity, the Clippers are currently a 6th seed in the Western Conference, not good enough to get to the Western Conference Finals and not bad enough to be in the lottery.
As is often the case with diminished returns, the Clippers are between a rock and a hard place. They wear the label “little brother” and have done a good job of excising the Lakers ghost, beating up on them whenever possible. But they can’t do the same to other teams: the Warriors, the Spurs, the Grizzlies.
Yes, Donald Sterling is gone, exiled, and that should be celebrated. But fast forward. The Clippers don’t have a legitimate small forward. They don’t have a quality bench. They play old school basketball in which two dominant players control the pace and tempo and everyone else must fill in the blanks. It has not been a pretty result. They have lost every game to the four teams at the top of the Eastern Conference. They are 2-2 against teams at the top of the Western Conference (they have yet to play the Dallas Mavericks).
While the Clippers are struggling to figure out why they are currently a 6 seed, the Lakers are the second worst defensive team in the NBA. You can count on Jeremy Lin to get destroyed on the defensive end every night. Ditto for whoever is playing center.
By (tanking) design, the Lakers don’t have size and can’t protect the rim. Their offense is decent, and on some nights very good. The Lakers don’t turn the ball over. But they also don’t shoot the ball efficiently either (43%) and thus can’t outscore their opponents as a strategy. Consequently, the Lakers have lost twice as many games as they have won.
But you wouldn’t know it if you attend Lakers games. The crowds remain energetic and fun-loving- and this is the peculiar part- they are oddly optimistic. Even Doc Rivers commented on it. At a Lakers game to see his son, Austin Rivers (Pelicans), he was taken aback by the fervent Lakers crowd.
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Whatever inroads the Clippers have made with a few disgruntled Lakers bandwagon jumpers, the majority of Lakers fans have stayed close to their roots. They have not given up. Or changed sides.
As the Clippers are finding out, it’s hard to compete with history and legacy and memories. Fans of the Lakers embrace their team the same way they adore their family. Families, by definition, fight and argue and complain but they don’t leave one another when things get rough. Families accept divorce and death and that bad things happen. But families stay connected.
Steve Ballmer had high expectations when he was the victor in a bidding war. But the NBA is not Microsoft. The Clippers are not the Lakers. Every once in a while, a Lakers fan will talk about the game 7 dramatics against Boston, the memory still etched into their consciousness. That Lakers championship was just 4 years ago.
The Clippers memories of success are vague and having a rich owner can’t change the truth. Money only goes so far. It doesn’t have wings, it can’t turn the impossible into the miraculous. Chris Paul has never been to a conference final.
Oct 31, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Jordan Hill (27) scores over Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) in the second half of the game at Staples Center. Clippers won 118-111. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
And so, just a few months after Steve Ballmer paid an excessive price for the Clippers, his basketball team is not the basketball team, not in this city. Three million people occupy this town. There are too many Lakers fans who find the Lakers narrative romantic, who remember Baylor, West, Chamberlain, Magic, Abdul-Jabaar, Shaq and Kobe. They still mourn for Jerry Buss.
The Lakers have occupied a huge chunk of people’s lives, they have entertained the masses for so very long. Fans have passed this unabridged loyalty down to their children. It is why Lakers fans wait around one more year, watching a terrible product, still believing the Lakers will be back.
But even if this rebuilding bridge takes years and years to complete, the last place Lakers fans would defect to is the Clippers. The reason is simple. The Clippers are not family. They are the neighbor who moved in next door who you don’t really trust.
Next: Steve Nash's Disappearing Act From the Lakers Must End