One team is on the rise. The stock for the other team is falling faster than quicksand. Two teams. Two separate paths. The Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Clippers are headed in opposite directions. The Lakers, regardless of when Kobe Bryant returns from the knee injury he suffered a couple of weeks ago, look like a team that have no clue of what it is supposed to do.
The Clippers, meanwhile, have the potential to dominate an opponent every time they take the floor. This was clearly evident in the Clippers’ 123-87 whipping they posted on the Lakers at STAPLES Center. And it wasn’t even that close. This game was over before my nine-year-old daughter hit her bedtime curfew.
For the Clippers and their fans, it doesn’t get much better than to stick it to their STAPLES Center rival whenever the opportunity presents itself. And why not? The Lakers used to bully the Clippers unmercifully and unapologetically for years. The Clippers have now flipped the switch on the Lakers and their faithful these days.
For the past three seasons, the Clippers have built a nucleus of a perennial playoff contender with a core group of young stars whom can only get better. The opposite can be said about the Lakers. It’s been a travesty of missteps, blunders and whacked out, head-scratching personnel moves the past few seasons for the Purple and Gold.
The Clippers have put together a team that can contend for an NBA championship now. The Lakers have a team that can’t even get out of its own way, which the Clippers used to do when the ballclub was a laughingstock to the rest of the league. That’s not the case anymore. It’s the Lakers that people are murmuring about these days.
And not in a good way.
The Lakers have won 16 NBA championships in their rich history. Winning another title for this proud franchise does not appear to be on the nearby horizon. Even when Bryant returns, the Lakers are not NBA title contenders. So let’s just stop that foolish chatter right now. Other than the future Hall of Fame claim of Bryant, the Lakers have a roster full of nice, complimentary players.
Nice won’t win an NBA championship. Talent, star power and great coaching are a couple of necessary ingredients needed to get to the NBA Finals. The Clippers have all three.
The Clippers have three key players in forward Blake Griffin, point guard Chris Paul and center DeAndre Jordan to build their future around for at least the next four to five seasons. The Lakers counter with aging and injured superstars in Bryant and point guard Steve Nash and a whole lot of nothing else going on in the next few seasons.
The Clippers have an NBA championship coach in Doc Rivers. The Lakers are stuck with Mike D’Antoni, a coach who might not be around by the time the season ends. Lakers fans revel and live in the team’s glorious past. The Clippers are a team playing in the moment.
But at the same time they are also trying to build something special for the franchise. What the Clippers have in place is one of the best teams in the league. The Lakers have embedded themselves in mediocrity. The Clippers represent the future of the NBA. The Lakers, unfortunately, look as if they are a team of the past.
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com