Battle for L.A. 2019-20

[Ranma]

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[Ranma]

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Scott Cacciola, New York Times (11/14/8)

“We’re just fun to watch,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said late Monday night after his team’s 121-116 victory against the Warriors. “We really are. I mean, hell, I like watching us.”

Like an unscripted reality show, the Lakers may be more compelling — the team president already barked at the coach in a private meeting, and James has been talking about patience a lot, which is never a good sign — but the Clippers are playing a more cohesive brand of basketball, at least at this early stage.

They did not sign any big-time free agents, and they did not acquire any in trades. It would be naïve to suggest that this was totally by design.

“Well,” Rivers said, “if we couldn’t get that, we wanted toughness. That’s all we talked about: gritty, tough, team players. That’s all we talked about in the summertime, and we felt that if we could get enough of those guys with talent, we could win some games.”

“I don’t think they’ve surprised me,” he said. “I think they’ve surprised other people. It’s a good group. We’re a deep basketball team. They play hard every night. They play together every night. And we’re still learning.”

Rivers understands all the buzz over the Lakers — they do employ the best player in the world, after all — but his players seem more than happy to go about their own business, in their own understated way.

Lob City Is Dead, But the Clippers May Be the Best Show in L.A.

[Akklaim1]

That has to be a photoshopped picture od Ice Cube wearing Clipper gear

[Ranma]

That has to be a photoshopped picture od Ice Cube wearing Clipper gear

I'm aware of his comments stating that the Clippers should move out of L.A., but apparently, he's worn Clippers gear quite some years ago before saying that.

[Clemenza]

I never get the people that say the Clipps should leave LA. Yes its a Lakers town but if you're a true basketball fan, why would you want less NBA games played in the city? Not to mention alot of Laker fans go to Clipper games especailly back in the day when the Clippers were a much cheaper ticket.

[mkwest]

That has to be a photoshopped picture od Ice Cube wearing Clipper gear

It could have been a celebrity all-star game. There's also a pic of Dub C in a Clipper shirt. Maybe Westside Connection did a halftime show or something. BTW Mack 10 voluntarily wore a Darius Miles jersey in the Connected for Life video.

[Akklaim1]

That has to be a photoshopped picture od Ice Cube wearing Clipper gear

I'm aware of his comments stating that the Clippers should move out of L.A., but apparently, he's worn Clippers gear quite some years ago before saying that.

Oh gotcha.

And he had no problem wearing that gear because that was back when the Clippers were easy pushovers and they were no threat to the Lakers. I doubt he'd wear that today.

**** him, though. Complaining about the Clippers being in LA when he still supports that Vegas-bound Oakland football team. **** outta here with that **** Ice Cube.

[esqtvd]

I don't care where we finish this year as long as it's ahead of the Lakers.

[Ranma]

And he had no problem wearing that gear because that was back when the Clippers were easy pushovers and they were no threat to the Lakers. I doubt he'd wear that today.

**** him, though. Complaining about the Clippers being in LA when he still supports that Vegas-bound Oakland football team. **** outta here with that **** Ice Cube.

I actually agree with his general sentiment to some extent, emphasis on "some extent". Los Angeles is a transplant town so it can be disheartening for the home team and its fans to have its own arena being filled with the majority of the other team's fans. Given the fair-weather culture and environment in L.A. that just comes with the territory, but it is much worse when that team is a struggling franchise known for its acceptance of mediocrity and second-class status much like the Clippers were for almost the entirety of Sterling's ownership.

When the Raiders and Rams occupied Los Angeles at the same time, the Raiders played in the Coliseum in L.A. while the Rams played in Anaheim in Orange County. It mirrored a similar setup to the L.A. Kings and Anaheim Ducks as well as the L.A. Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Now, not only do the Lakers and Clippers share the same city, but the same arena. This will also be the case when the Chargers move into the Rams' home. Ballmer is trying to change it with the Clippers' own arena, but downtown L.A. and Inglewood aren't exactly separated too far from each other.

Now I guess other metropolitan sports teams are making such a dynamic work. The New York Giants and Jets share the same stadium while the Yankees and Mets are within 10 miles of each other. Even Chicago's MLB teams are within 8 miles of each other with the Cubs occupying the north side and the White Sox residing in the south side.

It just seems like the tribalism within the community compounds the transplant and fair-weather demographic problems in Los Angeles. A case can be made that having so many entertainment options and sports teams to choose from in Los Angeles forces those teams to compete for market share by building contenders rather than take the fan base for granted. I also agree with that notion, for the most part.

However, my preference has always been to be the undisputed favorite team of a metro area, which is why I previously wanted the Clippers to move to O.C. However, such benefits don't outweigh the cachet of actually being situated in a prime location like Los Angeles, especially now that we have an owner eager and invested in taking advantage of it.

Sponsoring the redevelopment of all the city's public basketball courts will lay a foundation to capture mind share and hopefully engender lifelong loyalties for the Clippers' brand, but that will take years to possibly come to fruition, which makes it all the more important for the Clips to be competitive now and become a favored destination for premier free agents since competing against the Lakers' storied history is a tall order by itself.

Taking advantage of the Lakers' down years isn't going to change anything overnight, but sustaining such an edge over a prolonged period of time could eventually lead to turning the tide in the public relations battle. The thing is that we can't be worried about competing with the Lakers, because that is precisely what a team with a step-child mentality would do. What the Clippers are doing is aiming to contend independent of what the Lakers do. Of course, beating the Lakers in the court of public opinion would be a monumental accomplishment, but that can't be done if the focus were as narrow as that limited scope.

In the end, I'm going to echo something Ballmer said when he bought the team. Being a die-hard Clippers fan is a badge of honor and I certainly rather have devoted fans join the fan club than front-running bandwagoners, but most important of all, having a team playing the game the right way and competing is something to be proud of most of all.

[og15]

I never get the people that say the Clipps should leave LA. Yes its a Lakers town but if you're a true basketball fan, why would you want less NBA games played in the city? Not to mention alot of Laker fans go to Clipper games especailly back in the day when the Clippers were a much cheaper ticket.

Maybe just stupidity?

[Quake Griffin]

I never get the people that say the Clipps should leave LA. Yes its a Lakers town but if you're a true basketball fan, why would you want less NBA games played in the city? Not to mention alot of Laker fans go to Clipper games especailly back in the day when the Clippers were a much cheaper ticket.

I really wish they would stop going to the games. I really wish we can grow the base and fill those seats with more Clipper fans.

Annoying to play Bos/Chi/Tor/NY and have their transplants and Laker fans cheering against you.

[esqtvd]

I never get the people that say the Clipps should leave LA. Yes its a Lakers town but if you're a true basketball fan, why would you want less NBA games played in the city? Not to mention alot of Laker fans go to Clipper games especailly back in the day when the Clippers were a much cheaper ticket.

I really wish they would stop going to the games. I really wish we can grow the base and fill those seats with more Clipper fans.

Annoying to play Bos/Chi/Tor/NY and have their transplants and Laker fans cheering against you.

Season ticket holders sell the hot out-of-town ones [esp GSW] for good coin and it helps pay for the season.

[Clemenza]

I never get the people that say the Clipps should leave LA. Yes its a Lakers town but if you're a true basketball fan, why would you want less NBA games played in the city? Not to mention alot of Laker fans go to Clipper games especailly back in the day when the Clippers were a much cheaper ticket.

I really wish they would stop going to the games. I really wish we can grow the base and fill those seats with more Clipper fans.

Annoying to play Bos/Chi/Tor/NY and have their transplants and Laker fans cheering against you.

No bull the Clipper fanbase is pretty big actually. Yes its a Lakers town but with the metro at almost 19 million there's a ton of Clipper fans.. but also a ton of people that are orginally from The Bay Area, NY, Chicago, etc. Its not really the lack of Clipper fans its the fact that LA has a HUGE transplant population. Alot of cities don't have this type of problem sports wise. I went to the Rams/Seahawks game at the Coliseum a week ago and there were a ton of Seahawk fans there. Not to mention a ton of Red Sox fans at Dodger Stadium for the World Series. So opposing fans at home games isn't solely a Clipper issue here in LA.

[Quake Griffin]

Laker crowds seem to do better against those big transplant areas imo. So do the Dodgers.
You can tell there's transplants in the crowd there but it's still a Laker/Dodger crowd. Clipper games can almost get to a half and half type of deal depending on the team/game.

Even in the Hallway Series. Laker fans pack out our home games much more than we do theirs.

Not shocked the Rams have that problem as many millennials pledged their allegiance elsewhere for 20 years and may be trying to re-endear themselves back to the Rams and vice versa.

[Quake Griffin]

L at home to the Magic.
L by 30+ at Denver.

Laker fans on the General Discussion Salty AF.

Not a bad spot to be in.

[MartinToVaught]

Never mind the GB - every positive tweet about the Clippers has hordes of salty Laker fans in the replies grasping at straws to discredit our team's success. I wonder if they get Google Alerts every time someone says something nice about the Clippers?

[playaloc916]

Never mind the GB - every positive tweet about the Clippers has hordes of salty Laker fans in the replies grasping at straws to discredit our team's success. I wonder if they get Google Alerts every time someone says something nice about the Clippers?

QFT...
Even when the topic has no relevance to the Lakers, seems like most of the negative posts come from Laker fans. I mean, they just got the best player in the world on their team, and yet some fans still go out of their way to chime in on Clipper-related threads with their derrrr, it's teh Clippurz... move out of here, nobody wants you... fans? Clippers have fans???... derrr...

[Ranma]

The collective IQ of Lakers fans is lower as is their standards for decency and yet their expectations are about the only thing that can be said to be higher.

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[QRich3]

I think that's just lowest common denominator Lakers fans, the guys that are Lakers fans as a fashion choice but don't really care too much about basketball, which is a large part of the GB. In my (limited) experience, true basketball fans that love the game and spend time in it, tend to be more respectful of the Clippers, as most normal people would be about having two teams in your city.

So I wouldn't sweat it too much about those people, the main reason they chose to be Lakers fans is to do that sh*tshow and feel superior about something for a second.

[Akklaim1]

Laker fans that attend Clipper games just to root for the opponents seriously need to be Bryan Stow'd.