By Ivy Kwok
Staff Writer
New players. New season. New expectations.
Last July, the Clippers acquired NBA all stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard while the Lakers added defensive wall Anthony Davis and Lebron James to their roster. With these talented athletes, fans are excited about the upcoming NBA season and see it as a chance for the two teams to reignite their lost rivalry.
“This is going to be a very exciting NBA season,” stated Sports Illustrated writer Rohan Nadkarni. “We get to [enjoy] a wide-open NBA without a clear-cut favorite for basically the first time in at least a decade.”
Though fans have almost always favored the Lakers over the Clippers, this season both teams have secured equally experienced and accomplished players that make it difficult to determine which side is truly superior.
In a Press Enterprise article, journalist Bill Oram, who has covered the Lakers since 2013, likens the Clippers and Lakers to roomates more than rivals since, historically, the Lakers have been able to achieve much more success.
Winning 16 championships and being known to have many legendary players grace their locker room, such as Kobe Bryant, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers have made a name for themselves with accomplishments like these.
The Clippers, on the other hand, have not won any championships, league or Conference titles and have only advanced to the playoffs 12 times in their 45 year existence. In addition, they have never had any players with nearly the same level of fame or prowess as the Lakers have had.
For the past few years, however, the Lakers have struggled to achieve the same level of greatness they once had in the past, being unable to advance to the playoffs for six consecutive years. Yet, as the Lakers try to overcome this losing streak, the Clippers have managed to surpass fans’ expectations in recent seasons.
The 2018-2019 campaign was especially memorable for Clipper enthusiasts. Sports writer Garret Chorpenning proudly told FanSided, a web-based sports network, that, “The team pushed the defending champions to six games in the first round of the playoffs and made their point heard. Without a single All-Star, past or present, they could still succeed.”
The addition of skilled players like Leonard and Davis have fans anticipating even more for the new season and what is to come for both Los Angeles based NBA teams.
“The Lakers and the Clippers have the two best superstar duos in the NBA,” wrote Sabreena Merchant in SB Nation, a sports blogging site. “This may not have been a real rivalry in the past, [but] it is now.”
