clipperlover wrote:The Clippers and Lakers never played a single series against each other there (actually NEVER met in a playoff series ever). The Lakers not ducking the Nuggets has sent them to a 1st round exit, any chance this year of a Lakers/Clippers series is now dead.
I'm gonna go a step further and say
there will never be a Lakers-Clippers playoff series unless one of the following occurs:1.
Lakers get Chris Paul. Narrative reasons: Lakers were supposed to get him, but David Stern vetoed it and shipped Paul to Clippers instead. Clippers became relevant (for reals) while Lakers suffered a condensed version of Clipper's misery. Can you imagine the Laker's chance to become the de facto franchise of the league (break the tie with Celtic's 17 trophies) which included a triumphant display of domination over Little Brother with LeBron James, while having their former savior in CP3 as the Clipper's greatest failure, weakness and kryptonite to use against them as a form of psychological torture? The ultimate ratings getter, the very thing that can finally supplant the NFL, NHL and MLB, and all this at the expense of the Clippers? Remember, Paul is 2-0 against them in the playoffs. And could that series be where the first ever 3-0 playoff series comeback is born? LeBron James would have to stay on Lakers for this to work, but Father Time has other ideas...
2.
NBA Playoffs abolishes conferences. This is more likely to happen. Four times in playoff history, there was a chance for both teams to meet in the next round, and in all of those chances, it was one or both teams falling short. Two of those times came on Clipper's part (1997, 2020 Bubble Playoffs), once by Lakers (2006), and once by both (2012 Lockout Season), proving that Clippers are afraid that if they lose to Lakers, it will be the most humiliating loss in franchise history that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Perhaps a Finals appearance might be the only way we ever get this matchup, but it would require abolishing conferences and turning it into best of 16, NCAA-style.