Everybody Hates the Clippers #BlameTheClippers

[Ranma]

As far as being hated. You guys know me…usually I'll start a thread at the beginning of the year and whine about it…yes, admittedly, whine. I didn't do it this year. What annoys me more than anything is how players can't keep trash talk on the court. Soundbite after soundbite after soundbite from Warriors players about us in the media. You won the championship. Go enjoy it and stop worrying about us. I don't think I've ever heard Griffin, CP or Paul mention these guys in the media.

Starting a new hashtag.
#blametheclippers

Deandre changes his mind? #blametheclippers
You won the championship but Blake Griffin elbowed you in the regular season last year (Shaun Livy)? #blametheclippers
Clippers dont flop anymore but you saw someone flop in another game? #blametheclippers

Since Quake won't do it, I'll go ahead and do it for him, especially with a lot of recent material and media attention now found on the matter.

Ian Levy, NylonCalculus.com (9/10/15)

In the minds of those who responded, there are really only two rivalries that stand out — Warriors-Clippers and Bulls-Cavaliers. While three of the top four rivalries identified were divisional opponents, it’s hard to argue that they have been emphasized by repeated regular season matchups. Warriors-Clippers is wrapped up in recent playoff series and public sniping...Mavericks-Clippers was another commonly identified rivalry which almost certainly rose up the list because of the DeAndre Jordan free agent emoji war this summer.



The Warriors-Clippers rivalry stays on top, while several other Clippers’ rivalries leapfrog the Bulls-Cavaliers matchup. Altogether, five of the most-identified rivalries involved the Clippers, which we’ll circle back to in a minute.
...

Of the 166 scores of 5 that were handed out, 61 of them went to the Warriors-Clippers rivalry. The next highest total was Bulls-Cavaliers with 19. Just to emphasize how much animosity there seems to be towards Chris Paul and company — 102 of the 166 scores of 5 that were handed out were to a rivalry that involved the Clippers. They were the team that appeared the most often and seemed to elicit the strongest opinions. The personalities on that team are strong, public and elicit a lot of distaste from fans of other teams, all of which again underscores that rivalries are about how we feel about the players themselves.
...

There is obviously a lot more I’d like to know about rivalries around the NBA, but at least we have some significant statistical evidence that people really do hate the Clippers.

The State of the NBA Rivalry


Jason Concepcion, Grantland.com (10/19/15)

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES VS. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

The Clippers are the team most other Western teams hate. They whine about every call; they’re spurred on by Doc Rivers, whose motivational style involves boosting his players’ confidence meters firmly into irrational while simultaneously creating an “everyone is against us” seige mentality. Nobody does it better.

The Grizz, meanwhile, are like the Clippers’ alt-dimensional grime twin. Where L.A. has the transcendent athleticism of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, Memphis has partners in grime Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Like Superman and Bizarro Superman, it’s only natural that they would hate each other from jump street. Their two playoff meetings (2012, 2013) and various regular-season donnybrooks have generated enough animosity and near-brawls to create a respectable top-five Z-Bo vs. Blake moments list. Grizz fans still speak with reverence and awe more befitting a UNESCO World Heritage Site about the moment in the 2013 playoffs when Randolph momentarily one-hand strangled Blake as the two writhed around on the court.

The Clippers are now clearly the better team, which kind of makes this feud even greater.

TREVOR BOOKER VS. BIG MEN IN LOS ANGELES

Last preseason:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihbx5T4XKzg[/youtube]
...

MARK CUBAN VS. DOC RIVERS

For more on the best beef of the summer, please refer to last month’s breakdown.
...

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS VS. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

“We don’t like each other.” —Andrew Bogut

What follows is an incomplete list of Clips-Dubs beef moments.

(Too long to list; refer to article linked below.)

2015-16 NBA Beefmeter: Appraising Notable Feuds Heading Into the Season


Monte Poole, CSNBayArea.com (10/30/15)

“We don’t like ‘em,” Lacob said. “It’s true. We don’t like ‘em and I can’t wait to play them.”
...

The Clippers’ reputation for flopping and complaining to referees has resulted in the widespread perception that they are, for lack of a better term, drama queens. Stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul get the brunt of that blowback.
...

“Come on, everybody feels that way,” Lacob said. “It’s not just us.”

Warriors' Lacob calls out Clippers: 'We Don’t Like 'Em'


Adi Joseph, SportingNews.com (10/29/15)

Clippers Hate Rankings: Where Does DeMarcus Cousins Come In?


Jesus Gomez, SBNation.com (10/30/15)

April 5, 2012. Blake Griffin aggravates Pau Gasol, the world's nicest person, by gloating after a dunk. "You have to be respectful, too. Otherwise, you probably will instigate retaliation or a bad, violent reaction," Gasol said. This isn't the first time Gasol got pissed off by a Clipper.
...

Oct. 28, 2015. Cousins admits that he "honestly" hates the Clippers.

Oct. 29, 2015. Cuban says he doesn't give a s*** about the Clippers.

You can change the owner, you can change the players but the Clippers are who they've been for the past 30 years.

Oct. 29, 2015. A brave arena employee puts Cuban and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer on the Kiss Cam. It was ... interesting.

A History of Everyone in the NBA Hating the Clippers


Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times (10/31/15)

“I don't think he hates us as people,” Clippers forward Lance Stephenson said earlier in the day when asked about Cousins' comments. “He just hates the team and hates losing to us.”
...

“I like passion,” Karl said. “I like anything that keeps you having the edge of competition. I think it's important. People don't understand that competitive mentality is a talent in this league. Everybody says it's an attitude — it's a talent.”
...

Some dislike of teams is to be expected among players trying to beat each other. Clippers forward Josh Smith said Kings point guard Rajon Rondo is one of his best friends when they're not playing each other. Otherwise, well . . .

“When I'm on the court with him,” Smith said, “I don't like him. ... I feel like an opponent is not supposed to like another opponent, so I think we should come out and keep giving them reasons not to like us.”

Stephenson, who spent his first five NBA seasons with the Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets, said the Clippers weren't widely disliked in the Eastern Conference. He's noticed a difference among the teams the Clippers play most.

“Now that I'm in the West,” Stephenson said, “it seems a little different.”

Clippers Face Their Hateful Fate in West

[Texas Chuck]

I mean if you want everyone to hate the Clippers, I'll admit it wouldn't take much to get me to.

But in all seriousness just look all over the boards and you will see lots of fanbases with persecution complexes like this. It's only natural that you are going to notice all the negative things said about the team you root for and overlook the infinitely more positive things that are said about a team with two top 10 players one of whom is an early MVP candidate and another is considered by many to be the best PG ever not named Magic. Plus another top 25 player in DeAndre and solid depth with a coach widely considered to be one of the best.

And those things get talked about a ton. The DeAndre situation was so loud and still reverberates a bit which is accounting for some the perception you have. And of course the local media tends to feed the "everyone hates us" flames because they know it gets clicks/views.

Just be happy dude. You have an elite team playing well to start the year. So some people don't like you or like to have fun with flopping gifs or whatever. Shake it off.

[Akklaim1]

Geography is a factor, too. Nobody outside of LA wants to see an LA team become successful. We basically replaced the Lakers. Of course, we don't have their history but any elite team from LA will get hated by the rest of the country. If this the same Clipper team was based in say, Utah or New Orleans, they would be one of the darlings in the NBA. If the entire Warriors roster played for the Clippers, they'd be villains (even before the championship). Stephen Curry's stupid dancing would rub people the wrong way.

[Wammy Giveaway]

The vitriol of hatred on the Clippers has amassed to a point where we may be seeing more cities chanting "Beat L.A.," which is normally exclusive to the Lakers because of their Midas touch in Jerry Buss (R.I.P.), the Phil Jackson eras, and being two titles away from becoming the dominus (master) franchise of the NBA.

The crux of the hate stemmed from the Clippers desperately wanting to be loved. Their disgraced owner was a sexist bigot of a cheapskate whose only true contribution to the NBA was loaning $2.7 million to help one of his friends purchase the Lakers in 1979. Trading for Chris Paul, which made the Clippers relevant and liked, had a shrewd beginning in that David Stern vetoed the original Laker trade. All this desperation to get attention with their fancy lob-jams and highlight reel plays only resulted in resentment and sour grapes. The haters are now wishing for Schadenfreude - something that will remind them that the Clippers are still losers.

Earlier today, I asked Sporting News's Adi Joseph if an ejection from Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Doc Rivers is the ultimate validator. When Griffin got ejected from a game on Christmas against the Warriors in 2013, there were a few tweets I found that cheered for his ejection as if justice had been served:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/anguslivingston/status/416082361978073088[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/thegoodville/status/416108231010709504[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/mrreyes23/status/416084361528623104[/tweet]

Joseph's reply:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AdiJoseph/status/660933665585762304[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/AdiJoseph/status/660933827116867584[/tweet]

The Clippers lie because of DeAndre Jordan reneging his agreement.
The Clippers cheat because they flop.
And as a result, the Clippers steal games they shouldn't have won.



Let's face it. The Clippers are the Eddie Guerrero of the NBA. They need to embrace that.

[Ranma]

I wasn't overly concerned with the perception of the Clippers around the league but I'll have to admit that, due in part to the increased media attention/scutiny, I've come to realize that it is more of a concern. I've always disapproved of the histrionics and whining from our team after referee whistles and non-whistles, particularly from Blake and Chris. It's not like I'm siding with the refs or anything but it was unnecessary and really unprofessional. Ditto on the flopping, which has been less of a problem. Even Doc doesn't like it, but has been resigned to accepting that it is part of their nature in the way they play.

Hey, I know NBA referees are not exactly the most competent or objective officials around and that Griffin, like Shaq before him, gets abused with a lot of fouls not called on his behalf due to his physical stature, but it is just a lot of unnecessary emotion and energy spent to our detriment. After all, such behavior isn't really going to improve our relationships with the zebras, plus, it also dilutes the legitimacy of our complaints. If we complain about every call, then we're seen as always crying wolf even on calls with legitimate gripes. This only serves to compound the problem where referees are just not going to take us seriously and enable opponents to get away with more than they have been because they know the refs aren't inclined to listen to us.

I actually agree with what George Karl said about exhibiting a competitive mentality and having that edge against opponents. Rivalry and elevating the intensity is good since it typically means a better focus at the task at hand. Karl is right in saying it is more than attitude since it takes discipline and toughness. However, you can't fake it and go through the motions. Not everyone can be the Bad Boys of Detroit nor do they really need to be. Take the Heatles with LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. They tried to embrace the villain role but immediately abandoned it the season after because it just didn't work for them.

How can we expect to embrace the role of villains when we haven't really shown the mental toughness to close out games with a killer instinct? Our starting center is actually shooting worse from the free-throw line despite an already bad performance and increased work on his form. Like I've said, it's totally mental with DJ, not physical. In fact, I'm actually concerned with how he will handle the hostile environment in Dallas when we take on the Mavericks in their home arena.

Look. A lot of the resentment and hate from rivals and fans are unavoidable given the competitive nature of the Western Conference. The Lakers are always going to point to losing out on Chris Paul no matter how weak their trade offer was. Golden State has lingering feelings from the Mark Jackson days and even before. Ex-Clippers Z-Bo and Barnes are always going to elevate the Grizzlies' intensity against us. We've been on Cousins' enemies list from the beginning.

Doc even plays up the "us against the world" bit and there's certainly a need for that given the circumstances. However, inviting more scrutiny and disrespect is not something I think is needed or helpful. Again, we haven't shown ourselves to be mentally tough before to handle such demands, which is why Paul Pierce is here to guide us in that regard. However, Pierce is not going to be here for the long haul and there's already plenty of lessons to catch up on without inviting more onto our plate. Plus, I don't like the example it sets.

It's one thing to be hated and respected, but it's another to be despised and dismissed. The Lakers and Celtics hated each other but they also had respect for their archrivals. They wouldn't dare dismiss the other for risk of being embarrassed or vanquished themselves. The intensity of that rivalry elevated both to competitive greatness as it served as an internal push for improvement. That's what we need. More proof in action and performance and less talk in the argument.

Having said that, I like that Blake has taken it upon himself to say that the Clippers have only proven that we only know how not to win a championship. It's a call to arms kind of like what Larry Bird did in calling out his own teammates after a lackluster performance against the Lakers in the playoffs. There's no question in my mind that the team has the talent to win the championship. It's just a matter of getting everyone on the same page and having the intestinal fortitude and mental toughness to realize our potential. The Truth will serve us well but Doc has to bring out more from our other individual team members.

Embracing the idea of being the target of scorn when we haven't done anything except recently choking away a prime opportunity to advance further towards the championship and then pointing out how lucky the eventual winners are rings hollow to me and only implies that the Clippers are content to waiting for things to happen rather than to further make improvements and adjustments to make them happen. Doc should have the Clippers worry about what we're going to do rather than what others have done. Playing up the hate with innuendos and sarcasm only serves as sending a mix message to his players. Are we here to talk or are we here to do what it takes to win?


p.s. I find it ironic that Ballmer wants us to be America's team yet Doc will have us embracing the role of villain. Instead of playing the role of Captain America or Superman, are we supposed to be Lex Luthor or Hydra?

[DLaren]

The title of this thread should be changed to:

'Nobody Respects the Clippers'

We aren't good enough to be 'hated' -- 'hate' is reserved for franchises with a deep history of winning, like the Patriots, Yankees, Cowboys, & Lakers...those franchises are hated, and the hate spans generations. As soon as this collection of Clippers are gone, the resentment will leave with it (all of this animosity started with the arrival of CP3 and the ascension of Blake); those other teams I mentioned are hated no matter who puts on the jersey.

All of our new-found rivalries are born out of a complete lack-of-respect for the way our players behave; flopping, whining, show-boating, etc. I had hoped we'd come into this season with a different approach to the game (given how humiliating last-season ended), but nope, we're still flopping, whining, and show-boating...

I guess those things are in this teams DNA, which would be fine if we were hanging banners...but since we aren't, all we're doing is making ourselves an easy target for ridicule and disrespect.

[Wammy Giveaway]

Ranma, do you think there is a hidden agenda by the NBA or its team (or both) to expose the Clippers as frauds by getting Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Doc Rivers ejected from a game? In my opinion, it's become their end game now. Other teams will have more incentive to beat them, but now it's become a game of torture.

[Ranma]

Ranma, do you think there is a hidden agenda by the NBA or its team (or both) to expose the Clippers as frauds by getting Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Doc Rivers ejected from a game? In my opinion, it's become their end game now. Other teams will have more incentive to beat them, but now it's become a game of torture.

I don't see it personally, so I would need some statistics showing that the Clippers' coaches and players are being ejected at a higher rate than other ballclubs'. I haven't observed that to be the case. If you have some numbers to counter this observation, please do share them, Wammy.

With regard to the general idea of a bias against the Clippers by the NBA and its officials, I'll admit that I feel like that's the case at times given how badly some of the officiating has been against us. However, we've proven to be the source of our undoing more often than not, so my homer bias only extends so far.

For the sake of argument in an attempt to approach this from an objective point of view, a case can be made for either side. On one hand, as much as the Clippers are hated or disrespected, we're still a ratings draw on television and at the gate. Having our star players and coach regularly ejected or the team not being competitive would hurt the draw on TV and ticket sales whether it's at Staples Center or visiting a rival arena.

On the other hand, the Clippers also represents things the NBA does not want to promote in the game like whining, flopping, and bad free-throw shooting. If we are in fact, the villains of the NBA, I don't see why the league would want to have us be the face of the National Basketball Association when you have the Spurs, Thunder, Warriors, and even LeBron's Cavaliers who each would arguably be more appealing in marketing the team concept. Of course, the NBA could go WWE (like it was under Stern) to set us up as the villains who occasionally win in order for the good guys to take down the following season.

Another thing to consider is that between Blake Griffin and Stephen Curry, Curry may be the more marketable personality. Obviously, Blake is pretty good in front of the camera and is quite savvy in the projects he's participated in, but Curry is more relatable and seen as a more wholesome personality. It's not like Blake is some TMZ fixture but the shoes of guards have historically sold better than those of their big-men counter parts. People buy more Jordans than Shaqs because, not only are MJ's exploits more spectacular, he is closer in size and style to the way most people play in the gym and blacktop. Likewise, Griffin despite being a spectacular performer, would probably sell less shoes than Curry who is a dead-eye shooter and adept dribbler, two things the common man have a better shot of improving than hoping to be a dunker.

Having said that, I don't believe there is a conspiracy against the Clippers to keep us down or at least I'd like to not believe it, especially under Adam Silver's watch who has more goodwill from me than David Stern did. I certainly think the refs are biased against us but part of that is due to our own conduct.

[Wammy Giveaway]

I don't see it personally, so I would need some statistics showing that the Clippers' coaches and players are being ejected at a higher rate than other ballclubs'. I haven't observed that to be the case. If you have some numbers to counter this observation, please do share them, Wammy.

I'll see what I can come up with in the coming days. I might have to ask Basketball Reference if they tabulate ejections. I don't think it's ever been done before. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

[Wammy Giveaway]

I spoke with Basketball Reference, and they said they don't tabulate ejections. When I asked them if they plan to include it in hopes of providing statistical evidence to support the ejection conspiracy I've proposed, they said they'll certainly look into it.

I've made a call to TOTWArmy Captain Woobly O'Balls on whether he or the army know of a website that looks into these stats. Awaiting a reply from him. This post will be edited as soon as I get a response from the Captain.

[Ranma]

I spoke with Basketball Reference, and they said they don't tabulate ejections. When I asked them if they plan to include it in hopes of providing statistical evidence to support the ejection conspiracy I've proposed, they said they'll certainly look into it.

I've made a call to TOTWArmy Captain Woobly O'Balls on whether he or the army know of a website that looks into these stats. Awaiting a reply from him. This post will be edited as soon as I get a response from the Captain.

Wouldn't this work by changing the season and sorting the category column to tabulate the ejection totals? There is no option to include coaches, however.

ESPN NBA Player Fouls Statistics - 2015-16

From a glance, we had 4 ejections total during the 2014-15 regular season with Matt Barnes leading the way with 2 and both J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford with 1 apiece. It was surprising to see Redick there as well as Crawford, especially since I recall Milph saying that Jamal never gets thrown out. I was able to determine quickly that Phoenix exceeded our total number that season.

We seem to hold steady with 3 or 4 ejections per season for the last 3 seasons with Matt Barnes getting ousted twice per season on our behalf. During the 2013-14 regular season, Blake Griffin had 1 ejection to go along with Barnes' customary 2 for a cumulative total of 3. Likewise, Matty B. again had 2 ejections during the 2012-13 regular season but was joined this time by Ryan Hollins with his 1 for the team total of 3 that season.

Also, we've only had Chris Paul's single ejection during the 2012-13 postseason within the past 3 playoffs.


p.s. I'm not sure how legitimate this is, but SportingCharts.com seems to accurately sort and rank the players and coaches ejection per team by season presumably not including the postseason totals. Click on the table images below for the respective links to the corresponding charts.

2014-15 Regular Season (Tied for 2nd)


2013-14 Regular Season (Tied for 3rd)


2012-13 Regular Season (Tied for 7th)

[Quake Griffin]

This isn't a persecution complex. This is legitimate and it's been discussed in the national media.
This forum doesnt even have this complex as you can see most people here don't even believe we deserve hate.



Last. IDC.
It's who you are more so than what you do.
If you excuse the Spurs for complaining and flopping but don't give the Clippers (or LeBron) a pass, you don't hate flopping. You hate the Clippers and use flopping as a pretext to do so.

ZZZZZzzz at "the Clippers do it at another level…" Save it.

[Wammy Giveaway]

Wow, Clippers were tied with the Celtics last year. If this number increases, there's a big chance it could support my theory. Your opinion of the Clippers being their own worst enemy also comes into play as well. This is something Clipper fans besides myself are going to have to keep a close eye on this season.

[Ranma]

Wow, Clippers were tied with the Celtics last year. If this number increases, there's a big chance it could support my theory. Your opinion of the Clippers being their own worst enemy also comes into play as well. This is something Clipper fans besides myself are going to have to keep a close eye on this season.

Keep in mind that Matt Barnes accounted for more than half of our ejections during the regular season and postseason combined during the past 3 seasons and he is no longer here.

[Don Tommy]

I don't mind the hate. Since 88 I have heard over and over how bad the Clippers suck. Now that we are good, people want to hate? I would rather be hated for being good than laughed at for sucking. It gets old having to watch ESPN games and listen to them bash us. People talk about the flops but when was the last time we had someone get fined?

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I'm with Don Tommy. I could care less if other fans like our team or not. If you wanna hate us, then hate us. It's not like other people cared when we were bad. I'm just happy that we're a good team and I don't have to worry about the nightly losses.

[QRich3]

Yeah I'd much rather the current situation than what happened 10,15 years ago, when any time anyone talked about us was to laugh at the patheticness of our franchise. I've said it elsewhere, I'm learning to embrace and love the villain role, f*ck everyone that's not us!

But in all seriousness just look all over the boards and you will see lots of fanbases with persecution complexes like this. It's only natural that you are going to notice all the negative things said about the team you root for and overlook the infinitely more positive things that are said about a team with two top 10 players one of whom is an early MVP candidate and another is considered by many to be the best PG ever not named Magic. Plus another top 25 player in DeAndre and solid depth with a coach widely considered to be one of the best.

And those things get talked about a ton. The DeAndre situation was so loud and still reverberates a bit which is accounting for some the perception you have. And of course the local media tends to feed the "everyone hates us" flames because they know it gets clicks/views.

Just be happy dude. You have an elite team playing well to start the year. So some people don't like you or like to have fun with flopping gifs or whatever. Shake it off.

lol come on now Chuck, be real. This is not your everyday persecution complex that any fan has. The Clippers have been painted (fairly or not) as the villain for a long time, and most people in the media or on your average fan's conversation are actively rooting against us. Media exaggerates every little thing cause anything with Clipper hate gets tons of clicks. You're being purposely oblivious if you don't acknowledge there hasn't been a franchise as hated as the current Clippers in ages. You could argue the Heat post-decision, but no one else since the bad boys probably.

You can think it's deserved or not, but if you don't admit it's a different level than the other 29 teams, you're not being honest.

That's not to say our team isn't good, and guys have to acknowledge that because it's obvious. But any little gesture any Clipper player does gets giffed and misquoted to no end (compared to the usual for other teams). The Warriors beat writers tweet more about our team than theirs. You have SI and SBNation doing compilations of reasons to hate the Clippers, and generally you just have to browse the internet to see what I'm talking about.

Most of us are happier with this team than we've ever been, but it does get difficult to talk basketball with fans of other teams because of all this. It's ok, but it's annoying. And it's definitely not just in our heads, no.

[nickhx2]

qrich has got it pretty much.

I agree that most fans feel some sort of persecution bias, but for the clips it is very real. It happens mostly with the fans, but the media as well. Some asshat decided to take what doc said about luck and twist it and present it to the gs players. Some asshat decided to take what josh smith said and run with that too.

Does the team help itself with the whining and badgering of refs? Not at all, and that might be the main issue for a lot of fans. But in the beginning the people hating on that stuff were people just looking for ANYTHING to hate. Blake's first year he was mostly loved, but there was a small contingent of viewers who couldn't stand him for his showboating ways after dunks (which he actually never did), or his complaining to the refs (because when you constantly absorb flagrant fouls and they don't call it, you will complain). It just grew into a spectacle from there where everything the team does now is hyper-analyzed.

Personally, I don't really care about the hate. I've known human beings are a pretty idiotic species for some time, and in the sports world you get the best of the bunch. One thing I even do like about it is you get to weed out the peanut gallery from the real fans. Sometimes it can be pretty infuriating because as an every day game-watcher, you know better but, hey, no point in trying to convince those who have their heads in the sand.

[Texas Chuck]

lol come on now Chuck, be real.

You can think it's deserved or not, but if you don't admit it's a different level than the other 29 teams, you're not being honest.

Was trying to be real.

I don't disagree that the Clippes are among the most vilified. Goes with the territory of being one of the best teams in the league and having a few divisive figures in the organization(Doc/Paul/Jordan). People don't spend much time hating irrelevant teams(like say Dallas)

I've been there. I mean our owner is Cuban so.... Plus all the stuff prior to 2011 around Dirk being a choker(despite being individually brilliant in his PS career) or being Irk Nowitzki or that Euros can never lead their team to a title(ironically Chris Paul being one who stated that). Or Ason Kidd can't shoot and beats his wife and gets coaches fired. But I also know that Dallas and Dirk and Cuban also got lots of great national press as well. It's just human nature to note the negative. And I think of myself as being a reasonable and objective fan, but real talk is I'm not exempt either.

Anyway didn't mean to rile anyone up. Really just want you guys to enjoy this. I know what its like to be a fan of a horrible team with a horrible owner/FO. And the Mavs in the 90's were the worst organization in all of North American professional sports. You guys got Blake and then Paul, you got rid of the bad owner. Don't let the haters spoil this time. Tho I'm starting to see that you guys are loving the hate so....

[nickhx2]

i think for some of us, at least for me, we're so far down the road of villainy that why not embrace it? as long as it doesn't involve my life directly then more drama (which in the end is inconsequential for all involved) only makes things more interesting.