The Los Angeles Clippers Kawhi Leonard cant get no hometown love?

[OkcSinceSGA]

Neither Kawhi nor a single Clipper fan gives a **** that LA is a Lakers town. How pathetic of a person do you have to be to draw a sense of bravado from the fact that you're a fan of the popular team in town

San Diego has always hated the Lakers and all teams associated with L.A. I lived there for 4 years. I could see the disenfranchised basketball fans there jumping on the Clipper bandwagon. They should take the Clippers back.

People need to also look at this from a team standpoint. I agree entirely that San Diego was perfect thematically and fanbase wise. San Diego sports fans hate Los Angeles fans. It makes great sense with their nautical theme heritage. The problem is San Diego sports fans are weak besides a small following (like Clippers fans now I suppose to some degree). They didn't do a good job of supporting a team, which a large reason they lost the Clippers. Also remember when the Clippers did a trail run in Anaheim at the Pond attendance was up 50% and OC loved having them. I'd embrace an Anaheim or SD move for their own individuality, the problem is attaching the "Los Angeles" name is 10x more profitable. So it doesn't make much BUSINESS sense. Makes a ton of fan sense to me though. I don't mind driving 90 min to SD to see them a few times a year if they can be loved more in their OWN city and make their own stamp.

[Forte IV]

Also can we stop this "Lakers were still the talk of the town" stuff? They weren't. During the Clippers run EVERYONE talked about the Clippers. Everyone. The only time Lakers were ever mentioned was when people starting spouting "Oh the Lakers have 16 championships though". "Talk to me when the Clippers have 16 championships". That's it. If making back handed comments towards the Clippers about the Lakers history means still being the talk of the town then sure I guess. But the truth, and believe me I'm right, is that the Clippers were very much the talk of the town. It's just people felt the need to mention the Lakers with the Clippers.

Talk is talk, regardless if it is negative or positive, and Los Angeles was talking about the Clippers. Saying Los Angeles didn't care is beyond stupid. They still talked about them. They were still jealous of them. They were still wondering why the Clippers were good and the Lakers were bad.

[QRich3]

We discussin the popularity championship again?

[Forte IV]

We discussin the popularity championship again?

Oh snap when did you become a mod? My guy congrats

[QRich3]

We discussin the popularity championship again?

Oh snap when did you become a mod? My guy congrats

Just today actually lol

Thanks, and come by through that side of the forums more often!

[sfernald]

The second he wins a championship for LA, everyone but the staunchest Kobe fans will be wearing his jersey.

[illastrate]

I don't think stuff like this phases Kawhi at all. Same goes for Paul George. They both came here knowing how fandom works in LA.

[Asif16]

Clippers have the better roster, coach and ownership. Lakers have the better history and fan support.

The only thing factual is coach, and that great coach hasn't even taken them to a conference final over how many years?

Doc Rivers is so goddamn overrated

[ejftw]

Uh Ballmer has been consistently improving the brand and roster, while his counterpart was crying to try to hinder that. And congrats, you have the bigger names?

Nothing against Ballmer but the lakers have been doing things in the city of Los Angeles for decades,a few hit pieces for Ballmer isn't going to change that.

Not sure if you've noticed, but the Lakers ownership has changed with the passing of Dr Buss. The current ownership group has done absolutely nothing and has been on their hands while Ballmer is doing things on and off the court. The backpack giveaway, renovating courts and rec centers for kids after school, the pledge to the City of Inglewood. etc. I don't recall a single time I've ever received anything from the Lakers organization while growing up in the county, and my daughter comes home with a pair of backpacks?

It may not seem like much, but Ballmer is planting a seed in the minds of the youth, that will stick in the minds of some.

It isn't even a comparison in the ownership front.

I’ve lived in LA for for about 4.5 years now, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a Clippers fan out in the wild, outside attending a playoff game once. In fact, I’ve seen far more LAFC (the new LA MLS team) support and gear than I have Clippers gear. I’ll never forget have during the playoff game I attended- a playoff game!- they were shooting off T-shirts and dropping parachutes of gift cards every single time out- stuff you’d expect a G-League team to be doing.

As much as I hate the Dodgers and Lakers, this will always be a Lakers and Dodgers-town (with a mere sprinkling of USC/UCLA fandom) and really nothing beyond that. LA obviously has the population, but not the sports fandom to support anything beyond that.

I went to a Laker playoff game with a few buddies from work, sat in the 200s, and we were told to sit down as we were being too loud. That's G-League level right there. Shirts is the norm at all levels.

And LAFC is nothing more than a trend

Dr Buss passing has done nothing to stop the things the lakers do in the community at all.

Ownership is a lot more than doing things for the community, which the Lakers are considerably behind the Clippers.

When do the Clips move to Inglewood??

As of now, scheduled for 2024.

[Jedi32]

Not sure if you've noticed, but the Lakers ownership has changed with the passing of Dr Buss. The current ownership group has done absolutely nothing and has been on their hands while Ballmer is doing things on and off the court. The backpack giveaway, renovating courts and rec centers for kids after school, the pledge to the City of Inglewood. etc. I don't recall a single time I've ever received anything from the Lakers organization while growing up in the county, and my daughter comes home with a pair of backpacks?

It may not seem like much, but Ballmer is planting a seed in the minds of the youth, that will stick in the minds of some.

It isn't even a comparison in the ownership front.




I went to a Laker playoff game with a few buddies from work, sat in the 200s, and we were told to sit down as we were being too loud. That's G-League level right there. Shirts is the norm at all levels.

And LAFC is nothing more than a trend

Dr Buss passing has done nothing to stop the things the lakers do in the community at all.

Ownership is a lot more than doing things for the community, which the Lakers are considerably behind the Clippers.

When do the Clips move to Inglewood??

As of now, scheduled for 2024.

Yeah if you say so

[PD28]

You could say the same for clippers fans who take pride in being fans of the more obscure team right?

Neither Kawhi nor a single Clipper fan gives a **** that LA is a Lakers town. How pathetic of a person do you have to be to draw a sense of bravado from the fact that you're a fan of the popular team in town

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[TurinTurambar]

I spent a week in LA during the playoffs. LAC had just won a game over the freakin warriors.

As a Raptor fan I was seeking Clipper fans pretty aggressivley to see if theres a real chance they could land Kawhi. Couldn't find a single a clipper fan my entire week there. Must've asked like 50 people, bartenders, servers, randoms at the bar. None of them had hate for the Clippers or anything like that but they seemed to just not give a **** about the Clippers.

Which in retrospect, fits Kawhi perfectly.

In a thread full of bizarre, baseless claims (my favorite being that the Clippers are somehow countercultural), this sums up the general attitude toward the Clippers here rather nicely.

It's not that theres any real animosity for the Clippers, it's that nobody here is bothering to spend any time thinking about them.

And really, I have no idea why anyone would want to be a fan of a company that peddled such a poor quality product to its customers for decades. Being a contrarian just doesn't seem worth it.

[Forte IV]

You could say the same for clippers fans who take pride in being fans of the more obscure team right?

Neither Kawhi nor a single Clipper fan gives a **** that LA is a Lakers town. How pathetic of a person do you have to be to draw a sense of bravado from the fact that you're a fan of the popular team in town

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The only problem with that is I've never met someone who was like "Yeah look at me I'm a Clippers fan". Oh wait its Clipper Darrell.

[Jedi32]

Also can we stop this "Lakers were still the talk of the town" stuff? They weren't. During the Clippers run EVERYONE talked about the Clippers. Everyone. The only time Lakers were ever mentioned was when people starting spouting "Oh the Lakers have 16 championships though". "Talk to me when the Clippers have 16 championships". That's it. If making back handed comments towards the Clippers about the Lakers history means still being the talk of the town then sure I guess. But the truth, and believe me I'm right, is that the Clippers were very much the talk of the town. It's just people felt the need to mention the Lakers with the Clippers.

Talk is talk, regardless if it is negative or positive, and Los Angeles was talking about the Clippers. Saying Los Angeles didn't care is beyond stupid. They still talked about them. They were still jealous of them. They were still wondering why the Clippers were good and the Lakers were bad.

Where was all this so called clippers talk taking place? Even in bad times the lakers dominate sports radio and casual fan talk. If I'm not mistaken the lakers still had more national televised games when they were bad, so again I ask where was all this clippers talk taking place?

[Wammy Giveaway]

I can't imagine anyone caring less about being booed than Kawhi. If he really cared about how fans treated him on or off the court, he would have stayed in Toronto where he would have been worshiped as a God for the rest of his career.

He'll just quietly go on about his business of winning championships as every Laker fan in the city boos as loud as they can to no avail.

Being a former Spur, he knows a thing or two about ignoring distractions and not letting personal emotions get the better of you. The Clippers are known for letting a single tiny microscopic little thing turn into an out-of-control scandal. Leonard will definitely help the Clippers in becoming the new Spurs.

[manlisten]

The Lakers have had better ratings and attendance even over the past 7 years. Popularity really doesn't matter, it's just funny when people think the Clippers are relevant like that. They have no idea how dominant the Laker brand is. There are probably people who think companies like adidas and Under Armor can hold a candle to Nike but Nike completely owns the athletic footwear and apparel market. The Lakers are similar.

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[freethedevil]

It's a Lakers town until the Clipps start winning

It will always be a Lakers town, even if the Clippers win.

That's never been and never will be how it worked. Fans care about the most recent winning, not who own in the past.

[dc]

Blake Griffin on the Clippers home crowd (and this is from 4 years ago when he was playing for the Clippers)

"I don't know what we could do, but it would be great if it wasn't that way," said Griffin. "It's kind of like when we play the Lakers. I don't know, maybe worse. It's one of those things where it would be great if it wasn't like that."

"Home-court advantage is just not there for us," Griffin told Arash Markazi of ESPN L.A. after the game. "If that's how it feels in the playoffs, it's not looking good."

https://www.sbnation.com/2015/4/1/8325309/blake-griffin-clippers-homecourt-advantage-warriors-stephen-curry-mvp-chants-2015

[Lost Angel]

It's a Lakers town until the Clipps start winning

LMAO. You must have never been to LA or know anything about our sports culture. Clippers represent the counter culture of LA.

the Clips definitely have their diehards but it’s for sure a Lakers town

I grew up in Hawthorne, I lived in LA for 30 years (now in London), the Clippers are the little brothers. Always.

[RoLo]

The bandwagon will get larger from other states and some from Cali as well. Just like the Heat and Warriors and Lakers and Knicks always draw from other states. But dont be foolish to think LA itself will shift towards Clippers. it will be a negligble amount. success will just result in more vitriol from Lakers fans. if anything the boos will just get louder at home, not quieter. the players probably dont care or they do, who tf knows, but they will never be heroes in their own city. They will never be 100% embraced and lionized like u would expect out of a champion from LA. thats the truth. Clips fans can shift goalposts all they want. They are fanbase with no home city. thats not fair to them