The Three Eras: A Lookback At Disappointment
Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2024 3:22 am
1. The Elton Brand era
Believe it or not, it is an era; Brand was with the Clippers for 8 seasons (2001-2008) following two rookie years with his drafted team the Chicago Bulls. Under the evil Donald Sterling era, Brand had only one true successful season, 2006, their first ever playoff series win with the aid of role star Sam Cassell. It looked as if the Clippers were finally becoming respectable, relevant and loved... until Brand was hit with a statistical regression in the next season followed by a ruptured Achilles tendon the season after. You know what happens next: Brand supposedly opted out of his contract to provide the Clippers with salary flexibility, Clippers signed role star and hometown native Baron Davis with the vision of a Davis-Brand duo, but Brand blindsided them by leaving the Clippers to join the Philadelphia 76ers. Disillusioned, Davis wasted no time being demonstrative of his time there with Clippers, then requested a trade in the 2010-11 season. Clippers floundered in the lottery for quite some time.
2. The Lob City era
It all started in 2011. Lakers were embarrassingly swept by the Mavericks; Andrew Bynum's clothesline on J.J. Barea was the low light in their 2nd round series. Disgusted by their exit, feeling robbed of a potential Finals ratings gold mine of Kobe (Lakers) vs. LeBron (Heat), commissioner David Stern punished the Lakers by denying them their ability to trade for superstar Chris Paul, accepting the Clipper's trade package instead. With the emergence of no. 1 draft pick Blake Griffin, the infamous Laker veto jump started a Clipper renaissance that saw them finally win a Pacific Division (back-to-back) and three playoff series wins in six years, including a dramatic 1st round series reckoning vs. both the dark horse juggernaut Golden State Warriors and the evil Sterling, who banked on Chris Hansen's bid to move the Clippers to Seattle and bring back the Supersonics. But a new owner in Steve Ballmer wouldn't numb the pain of the Clipper's first 3-1 collapse to Rockets, leading to DeAndre Jordan seeking greener pastures with the Mavericks only to be swayed back by his friendship with Griffin. In the end, it was Chris Paul who asked out, joining the same Rockets team who delivered that 3-1 collapse.
3. The Jerry West-213 era
The Sterling regime was filled with Sterling cronies to the brim, leaving the Clipper's competitive class completely compromised. So it was a no-brainer move for Ballmer to hire Jerry West to help show how to properly run a franchise, dag-nabbit. A punted season later, they scored with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a role player team who took the Ultimate Warriors to six games in 2019 behind the largest playoff comeback in NBA history. They sought the services of Kawhi Leonard who learned from the San Antonio Spurs about playing for the greater good, leading by example, and tuning out distractions, but he would only come if they brought in a second superstar, requiring Clippers to give up SGA for Paul George. The COVID-19 pandemic made the Clippers not want to participate in the 2020 NBA Bubble, and it was those internal feelings that led to the greatest 3-1 collapse in NBA history. They would get over it the following season, needing to come back from down 2-0 not once, but twice. It would have been thrice had their conference finals berth not been spoiled by their former savior CP3 who wanted revenge on his former team for ruining his Hall Of Fame legacy. A small window of a Big 3 via Westbrook buyout looked promising, but fearing a closed window, Lawrence Frank upgraded to a Fantastic Four by trading for superstar James Harden, a Four that blew up in his face in more ways than one. George would ditch the Clippers, Westbrook is shipped out, and Jerry West is at rest.
A Lookback At Disappointment
Brand. Paul-Griffin. Leonard-George. All failures. Three strikes yer out. Is it possible the Clippers are that one franchise which will never get it right?
Look at how this era ended. George leaving the Clippers to 76ers is very similar to how Brand left, even after they went out of their way to get Davis as proof of competitive seriousness. However, Clippers brought in "Davis" earlier in the 213 era unlike their early "Davis" attempt in 2008. Leonard-George's first playoff opponent was Mavs, whom they beat twice in back-to-back seasons. Their last opponent before getting blown up was Mavs, resulting in Doncic's first ever Finals berth.
The Lob City era saw lots of teams with increased relevancy. Defeating Clippers sent Grizzlies to their first ever conference finals and Rockets their first conference finals visit in 18 years. Drawing Clippers turned Warriors into instant champions, losing to them in 2014 followed by a dynastic era the following season. Warriors would not get a fitting revenge until 2019 when all that remained of Lob City was Doc Rivers. In the Leonard-George era, defeating Clippers gave Nuggets their first conference finals visit in 10 years, Suns their first Finals visit in 28 years, and Mavericks their first Finals visit in 13 years. Adding insult to injury, CP3's first Finals berth came at Clippers expense. But that's not all: by simply drawing Clippers, Nuggets would go on to win their first title in 2023, without ever having to face them because Paul already did them in.
What we are seeing are the Brand and Lob City eras coming together in this failed Leonard-George-later Westbrook-finally Harden era, trying every previously used trick, be it farm trades, buyouts, 2nd round hidden gems, and super teams. Whenever the Clippers do it, it always goes wrong. But when somebody else copies the Clippers, their efforts are better realized, tamed and matured. Now what they're doing is bringing back a retread coach in Jeff Van Gundy to be their assistant while using their "gap" years (the media's words) to take on reclamation projects, whether they are distressed players, damaged goods, or disgraced commodities. For example, the Kevin Porter Jr. signing was panned by both media watchdogs and Clipper fans alike, and Kris Dunn is a too-little-too-late pickup - yes, even after having access to his services when he was on the G-League Clippers since 2022 - making his signing look like a make-good (In other words, it took losing George for Clippers to finally concede into giving Dunn a look). In essence, like Homer Simpson, the Clippers act too slow, and only when something dear is taken away from them.
Rank the eras. Which one do you think was really a lost opportunity?
Believe it or not, it is an era; Brand was with the Clippers for 8 seasons (2001-2008) following two rookie years with his drafted team the Chicago Bulls. Under the evil Donald Sterling era, Brand had only one true successful season, 2006, their first ever playoff series win with the aid of role star Sam Cassell. It looked as if the Clippers were finally becoming respectable, relevant and loved... until Brand was hit with a statistical regression in the next season followed by a ruptured Achilles tendon the season after. You know what happens next: Brand supposedly opted out of his contract to provide the Clippers with salary flexibility, Clippers signed role star and hometown native Baron Davis with the vision of a Davis-Brand duo, but Brand blindsided them by leaving the Clippers to join the Philadelphia 76ers. Disillusioned, Davis wasted no time being demonstrative of his time there with Clippers, then requested a trade in the 2010-11 season. Clippers floundered in the lottery for quite some time.
2. The Lob City era
It all started in 2011. Lakers were embarrassingly swept by the Mavericks; Andrew Bynum's clothesline on J.J. Barea was the low light in their 2nd round series. Disgusted by their exit, feeling robbed of a potential Finals ratings gold mine of Kobe (Lakers) vs. LeBron (Heat), commissioner David Stern punished the Lakers by denying them their ability to trade for superstar Chris Paul, accepting the Clipper's trade package instead. With the emergence of no. 1 draft pick Blake Griffin, the infamous Laker veto jump started a Clipper renaissance that saw them finally win a Pacific Division (back-to-back) and three playoff series wins in six years, including a dramatic 1st round series reckoning vs. both the dark horse juggernaut Golden State Warriors and the evil Sterling, who banked on Chris Hansen's bid to move the Clippers to Seattle and bring back the Supersonics. But a new owner in Steve Ballmer wouldn't numb the pain of the Clipper's first 3-1 collapse to Rockets, leading to DeAndre Jordan seeking greener pastures with the Mavericks only to be swayed back by his friendship with Griffin. In the end, it was Chris Paul who asked out, joining the same Rockets team who delivered that 3-1 collapse.
3. The Jerry West-213 era
The Sterling regime was filled with Sterling cronies to the brim, leaving the Clipper's competitive class completely compromised. So it was a no-brainer move for Ballmer to hire Jerry West to help show how to properly run a franchise, dag-nabbit. A punted season later, they scored with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a role player team who took the Ultimate Warriors to six games in 2019 behind the largest playoff comeback in NBA history. They sought the services of Kawhi Leonard who learned from the San Antonio Spurs about playing for the greater good, leading by example, and tuning out distractions, but he would only come if they brought in a second superstar, requiring Clippers to give up SGA for Paul George. The COVID-19 pandemic made the Clippers not want to participate in the 2020 NBA Bubble, and it was those internal feelings that led to the greatest 3-1 collapse in NBA history. They would get over it the following season, needing to come back from down 2-0 not once, but twice. It would have been thrice had their conference finals berth not been spoiled by their former savior CP3 who wanted revenge on his former team for ruining his Hall Of Fame legacy. A small window of a Big 3 via Westbrook buyout looked promising, but fearing a closed window, Lawrence Frank upgraded to a Fantastic Four by trading for superstar James Harden, a Four that blew up in his face in more ways than one. George would ditch the Clippers, Westbrook is shipped out, and Jerry West is at rest.
A Lookback At Disappointment
Brand. Paul-Griffin. Leonard-George. All failures. Three strikes yer out. Is it possible the Clippers are that one franchise which will never get it right?
Look at how this era ended. George leaving the Clippers to 76ers is very similar to how Brand left, even after they went out of their way to get Davis as proof of competitive seriousness. However, Clippers brought in "Davis" earlier in the 213 era unlike their early "Davis" attempt in 2008. Leonard-George's first playoff opponent was Mavs, whom they beat twice in back-to-back seasons. Their last opponent before getting blown up was Mavs, resulting in Doncic's first ever Finals berth.
The Lob City era saw lots of teams with increased relevancy. Defeating Clippers sent Grizzlies to their first ever conference finals and Rockets their first conference finals visit in 18 years. Drawing Clippers turned Warriors into instant champions, losing to them in 2014 followed by a dynastic era the following season. Warriors would not get a fitting revenge until 2019 when all that remained of Lob City was Doc Rivers. In the Leonard-George era, defeating Clippers gave Nuggets their first conference finals visit in 10 years, Suns their first Finals visit in 28 years, and Mavericks their first Finals visit in 13 years. Adding insult to injury, CP3's first Finals berth came at Clippers expense. But that's not all: by simply drawing Clippers, Nuggets would go on to win their first title in 2023, without ever having to face them because Paul already did them in.
What we are seeing are the Brand and Lob City eras coming together in this failed Leonard-George-later Westbrook-finally Harden era, trying every previously used trick, be it farm trades, buyouts, 2nd round hidden gems, and super teams. Whenever the Clippers do it, it always goes wrong. But when somebody else copies the Clippers, their efforts are better realized, tamed and matured. Now what they're doing is bringing back a retread coach in Jeff Van Gundy to be their assistant while using their "gap" years (the media's words) to take on reclamation projects, whether they are distressed players, damaged goods, or disgraced commodities. For example, the Kevin Porter Jr. signing was panned by both media watchdogs and Clipper fans alike, and Kris Dunn is a too-little-too-late pickup - yes, even after having access to his services when he was on the G-League Clippers since 2022 - making his signing look like a make-good (In other words, it took losing George for Clippers to finally concede into giving Dunn a look). In essence, like Homer Simpson, the Clippers act too slow, and only when something dear is taken away from them.
Rank the eras. Which one do you think was really a lost opportunity?