Do the Clippers Run LA?

Lakers, Kobe Still Run LA

The Battle of LA has been well documented over the last couple of seasons. With some bandwagon fans and Laker haters saying that the Clips have taken over as the city's number 1 team. 

That's an absolute joke. How can one or two seasons of better basketball be enough to knock the Lakers off the pedestal? The Lakers own LA, the Beat LA chants have started with the Lakers, people HATE the Lakers- a sign that you're doing something right. No one hates the Clippers because they have and will always be largely irrelevant. They will always be number 2 in Los Angeles. 

Take a look at who the Clippers had in their franchise best season: Barnes, Odom, Turiaf, Caron Butler all former Lakers not to mention that CP3 was traded to the Lakers in a deal that was famously vetoed. Signing players from your cross-town rivals isn't a way to become bigger than them. Despite having such a good record during the regular season it doesn't mean anything if you can't convert it into playoff wins and naturally the Clippers lost in the first round to Memphis. All those extra wins over the Lakers yet only find themselves going out in the exact same round. And supposedly they have taken over LA? Give me a break!

Best Clippers Player Ever: Bob McAdoo

Now let's look at the history. The Clippers in total have had eight winning seasons, yes EIGHT. Eight out of forty two, that is abysmal. They have had a 12-70 season, all-time regular season record is an appalling 1303-2175 (.375) and playoff record is 26-38 (.406). They have made the playoffs 9 times with their best performance coming in 2005-06 when they lost in 7 games in the Western Semis. Their best player for the franchise was Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo; they made the playoffs 3 times out of his 4 seasons with the franchise. He was the 1975 MVP with 34.5 PPG, 14.1 RPG 2.1 Blocks per game and 2.2 APG.  In only his second season he became (and still is) the only person to average 30ppg and 15 rbp in the same year. He ended up winning 2 rings and guess what team that was with? Yep, the Lakers as sixth man. 

The next best players would have to be Bill Walton although he spent his best years in Portland, Elton Brand, Danny Manning and Ron Harper. Dominique Wilkins also spent one season with the Clippers. As you can see the players here are no match for the likes of Magic Johnson, Kareem, Shaq, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, James Worthy, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Cooper, George Mikan and others.

Now let’s take a look at the rivalry itself:
Seasons with better record (out of 28): Clippers: 5 Lakers: 23

Head-to-head series in regular season won: Clippers: 2 Tie: 5 Lakers: 21
Overall head to head wins: Clippers: 33 Lakers: 97
Playoff Appearances in the 28 year period that the Clippers have been in LA: Clippers: 6 Lakers: 26
Championships (in this time): Clippers: 0 Lakers: 8
Pacific Division titles (in this time): Clippers: 1 (last season) Lakers: 14

So as you can see no the Clippers do not run LA.

2013-14 Preview

Potential Lineup

PG: Chris Paul, Darren Collison

SG: JJ Redick, Jamal Crawford, Willie Green

SF: Jared Dudley, Matt Barnes, Reggie Bullock

PF: Blake Griffin, Byron Mullens

C: DeAndre Jordan, Ryan Hollins

New Head Coach: Doc Rivers

The Clippers have again positioned themselves to make a run this year. The trade that sent Caron Butler and Eric Bledsoe to the Phoenix Suns allowed them to acquire two deadly three-point shooters in Redick and Dudley. Despite the loss of Chauncey Billups and perhaps Lamar Odom, free agency was kind to them, signing Darren Collison a young PG who was good in his first year at the Pacers and will be able to bring a spark of the bench and Byron Mullens who is a big man that can spread the floor. Their biggest acquisition however is replacing Vinny Del Negro with Doc Rivers. Rivers won coach of the year in 2000 while coaching the Magic after almost making the playoffs with a team that was expected to come last. He is more known however for his role with the Boston Celtics’ big 3 where he won his only ring in 2008. He will provide more stability than Del Negro did as the players trust his judgment more and also has proven he can turn a team of stars into a championship team. He has signed for 3 years, CP3 and Griffin have signed for 5. They will be good for years to come. 

With one of the deepest benches in the league and one of the best leaders in CP3 what is there to worry about with this team? The only weakness that I can spot is that the two big men (Griffin and Jordan) are both power players have a very limited range of post moves, bad free throw shooting and the inability to spread the floor consistently. I expect they will end up between 1^st and 3^rd seed in the West, I have yet to commit to a spot just yet but I will be and this will be revealed in my Western Conference Preview article.

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Lebron: Will He Leave for LakerLand or Return Home Back to Ohio?

"I got a goal, and it's a huge goal, and that's to bring an NBA championship here to Cleveland, and I won't stop until I get it."

Lebron James said these famous words but the question remains will he live up to it? I think he will, he has an Early Termination Option for his contract with the Heat and he will use it to return to Cleveland in the 2014 summer and team up with Kyrie Irving and Andrew Bynum. He has shifted teams once before showing that he is a ring chaser and that was to team up with Wade and Bosh and not much else. It makes sense for him to go to Cleveland he would be with a Kyrie Irving who would be entering his prime and probably a top 5 player in the NBA in a few years, an Andrew Bynum who when healthy is the best offensive center in the game and not to mention Anthony Bennett, Dion Waiters, Tyler Zeller, Tristan Thompson who are all about to enter their prime! Not to mention it would partner him up with his good pal Anderson Varejao and former coach Mike Brown. In Cleveland who knows how many rings he could end up with, my guess is more than 6. He would be turning 30 next year and about to enter the later part of his career why not do that with people who are about to enter their prime? It makes no sense for him to stay with an ageing Dwayne Wade or Ray Allen, a disappointing Chris Bosh and other veterans that are just there to make up the cap space. Yes he would be hated in Miami and around the league but the Cavaliers fans will love him again, how quickly one forgets after their home hero brings a few championship rings to the franchise. 

 

The Return?

The other option is to team up with Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony in Lakerland. If the three wanted this to happen they would take a pay cut and Steve Nash is still signed giving them four superstars. However Nash is nearing retirement, Kobe is coming of an achilles tear, although I wouldn’t count him out to contribute up until 40, and Carmelo is about the same age as Lebron. The age factor plus the chemistry issues that would entail make this hard to see working. Even if they could all get on the same page they could possibly win 2-3 rings together providing they all stay healthy and aren’t affected by age too much. Then again how would they fill out the rest of the roster?

Could this happen?

Would Nick Young, Wes Johnson, Chris Kaman and Jordan Farmar take a pay cut to stay with the Lakers as they have done this year? They have stated in their press conferences that they are just happy to be a Laker and if this is true and they do stay in LA to play with these three then you have an unstoppable team.

Either way I believe Lebron will not be in Miami next season because there is nothing left in Miami. Wade is injury prone and at the tail end of his career, Ray Allen too. Chris Bosh has shown that he cant always be counted on ala game seven with a grand total of zero points and the role players Chris Anderson, Haslem, Battier are all old and not really ideal counterparts. The Lakers Fans and media would put too much pressure on Lebron and he wouldn’t want it not to mention the chemistry issues with Nash, Kobe and Carmelo all looking to have the ball. Cavaliers have a bright future and he would be the hometown hero bringing the first ever ring to the franchise and putting his legacy on the team whereas Miami has always been Wade’s home and the Lakers Kobe’s. It would give Lebron a chance to have something of his own and make his own history if he went back to Cleveland.

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Kobe: Shaq's Sidekick?

A usual point of discussion when bringing up the Greatest of All Time is that Shaq carried Kobe during his first three rings. This argument is probably the most overused, non-researched and uneducated view point that I have heard. Funnily enough usually the people referring to it did not even watch the Lakers win those titles. To say the Kobe was simply a sidekick is saying that if you took him off the Lakers they would still win three titles, which is wrong. It implies that he was not important but just a role player that could’ve been replaced easily.

Obviously Shaq was the number one guy during the Finals and his stats prove it but you need to get past three rounds before the finals and Kobe performed well in these. In the first three rounds of 2000 playoffs he averaged 22.8 ppg 4.4 rpg and 4.4 ast compared to Shaq’s 28.2 ppg 15.0 rpg and 3.4 ast. Kobe was only 21 years old this year and still managed to produce these numbers. The toughest series this season was Lakers vs Trailblazers and in Game 7 Kobe came to play leading the team with 25 points 11 rebounds 7 assists and 4 blocks. He was clearly the best for the Lakers, Shaq only had 18 points 9 rebounds 5 assists and 1 block.  Undoubtedly Kobe was the dominant player during this pivotal game 7 where the Lakers were down by 15, without this win they don’t even make the Finals let alone win their first ring! During the Finals against the Pacers of this year however he injured his ankle in Game 2 and did not play in Game 3 (a game the Lakers lost). Game 4 was when Kobe made his mark; he had a shocking game up until the end when Shaq fouled out with 2:33 remaining in overtime. At this point of the game Kobe had 3 isolation plays in a row- he scored on every one. He then scored a reverse layup which iced the game for the Lakers- his 8 points scored in overtime are the second most points in an NBA finals game in history. Again in game 6 he proved clutch as he hit five free throws in the final minutes. This was Kobe’s first ring and first Finals appearance, he had his struggles but was definitely a pivotal player for the Lakers.

In 2001 Kobe was now well known and ready for another title. He showed it during the first three rounds of the playoffs his stats looked like this: 31.6ppg 7rpg and 6.3ast. Pretty impressive stats for just a ‘sidekick’ hey? Compare this to Shaq’s stats: 29.3ppg 15.3rpg 2.5ast. Kobe also had back-to-back 45/10 games achieving 48 points 16 assists in game 4 of the WCSF and 45 points 10 assists in game 1 of the WCF. In the NBA finals against the 76ers he had back-to-back games of 30+ points over game 2 and 3. Shaq was clearly the better of the two in the Finals but over the course of the playoffs they were just as important. As a second option to average 31 points throughout the playoffs is incredible most first options can’t even average that!

2002 was the final year they won a championship together the finished the season with a 58-24 record third seed in the West behind the Kings and Spurs. Again the stats throughout the first 3 rounds of the playoffs show the importance Kobe. 26.6 ppg 5.8 rpg 4.4ast compared to Shaq’s 26.4ppg 12.7 rpg 2.6 ast. In this year the most important series was the WCF not the Finals as the Kings were far stronger than any East team and were the number 1 seed. Lakers found themselves down 3-2 facing elimination but in game 6 Kobe scored 31 and Shaq 41 followed by a game 7 where Kobe had 30 &10 Shaq 35&13. During the Finals it was mostly a comfortable win for the Lakers the only issues coming in game 3. Finding themselves behind entering the 4^th quarter and with Shaq starting on the bench and Kobe launched the comeback scoring 12 points that quarter and 36 for the game. Kobe again took over the 4^th quarter in game scoring 11 points and sealing the three-peat. 
Here are some of the stats from Kobe in his 2002-03 season when he should've won the MVP as he was clearly the best player in the NBA:
 30 ppg 7 rpg 6 apg 2.2 spg against both handchecking and zone
 1st team All-Defensive
 1st team All-NBA 
40+ points 19 times in 82 games
 40+ in 9 striaght 
35+ in 13 straight 
NBA record 12 threes in a game
 50+ points 3 times 
42 ppg in February 2003 (Jordan never averaged 40 ppg for a month in regular season, Kobe did it 3 times)
 5 straight double doubles with 2 triple doubles in the 1st 5 games of the 2002-2003 season 
 27/10 25/10 33/15 34/14 15/13 Just incredible

As you can see the numbers Kobe put up do not indicate he was merely a sidekick or was carried by Shaq. It is simply untrue. He consistently took over fourth quarters even during 2000 when he was just 21 and yet to win a ring. He came through when it mattered most in times throughout all three titles and he averaged more points for the last two years during the three rounds of playoffs. The argument that Kobe really only has won 2 rings is absolutely invalid and is proven throughout this article that without Kobe the Lakers do not win these rings.