The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers have established quite the rivalry over the years. With ample superstars sharing the court and both teams annually featured in the championship conversation, it’s no surprise why almost every LA matchup is nationally televised in primetime.
In fairness, the Clippers have owned their cross-hall rivals with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as their nucleus. Since LeBron James joined Los Angeles, the team is 4-11 against their inner-city rivals and have shockingly lost seven games in a row in the rivalry.
Of course, the Lakers’ championship in 2019-20 is the ultimate argument-winner. After all, does anyone really care what these two squads do in the regular season? Both teams are judged by what they do in the playoffs, and righty so.
Don’t tell that to Clippers fans, though.
Noted Clippers fan and former NFL player Marcellus Wiley attempted to drag the purple and gold for getting dominated by the Clippers over the last decade. The 32-7 record is telling, but WNBA legend Lisa Leslie clapped right back with a savage response that proves the Lakers will always have the upper hand.
WNBA legend Lisa Leslie dunked all over the Clippers in favor of the Lakers.
We don’t make the rules, but Leslie is now a Lakers legend.
Wiley should’ve known better than to open himself up to this level of condemnation, but that’s not how Clippers fans operate. As Leslie notes, their foremost concern is dominating the Lakers rivalry. Need we remind Clippers Nation that their team has zero championships? Or that the purple and gold have a 150-81 edge in the series all-time?
The last 15 years have been regarded as a disappointment for the Lake Show and they still have three championships to show for it. Despite having one more playoff appearance than the Lakers during that span, the Clippers haven’t been to one NBA Finals. Heck, they’ve only made the Conference Finals once over that span. The Lakers, meanwhile, have four Finals appearances.
At the end of the day, the purple and gold have much bigger fish to try than the Clips as far as rivals are concerned. The Celtics and Spurs come to mind, but you can certainly make arguments for the Pistons (Bad Boy vs. Showtime) and 76ers.
The purple and gold are far and away the Clippers’ biggest rival. That would explain the recent lopsided record. Perhaps the Clippers get up for Lakers matchups more than LeBron and Co, but let’s not make excuses.
While the Clippers might have a recent head-to-head advantage in the rivalry, Leslie dunking all over Wiley is just further proof that Clippers fans should tread lightly the next time they try to poke fun at the Lakers’ recent struggles against them.
Lakers’ Anthony Davis has an extremely ambitious goal for this season
The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to rebound after a disappointing season and Anthony Davis has an ambitious goal that would help that.