The L.A. rivalry that’s outgrowing the Staples Center
It was an historic offseason in Los Angeles. After a number of false starts and considerable controversy, L.A. finally acquired the best available player on the market. The addition of that player, coupled with the team’s incumbent star power forward, created an exciting team that has a chance to dominate the Western Conference for years to come.
The aforementioned player is, of course, Chris Paul, and the offseason I’m referring to is the summer of 2011, when the Los Angeles Clippers traded for the dynamic point in order to pair him with young All-Star Blake Griffin.
To be sure, there are some interesting parallels between the spectacular offseason enjoyed by the Los Angeles Lakers this year, and that of the Clippers last summer. Both Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are franchise-altering talents, possibly the best in the NBA at their respective positions. Both were unhappy after years of mediocre results with their previous teams.
In the case of both Paul and Howard, when it became clear they were seeking a new home, the race to acquire their services was prolonged and very heated, generating plenty of media coverage along the way.
Every step of the will-they or wont-they courtship between Howard and the Brooklyn Nets was extensively documented, from Twitter to the NBA blog universe. Chris Paul was actually traded to the Lakers at one point before Commissioner David Stern famously nixed the deal, citing “basketball reasons.”
In the end, both players ended up in Los Angeles with big expectations. But of course, the funny thing about “big expectations” is that the definition of that phrase can vary greatly depending on the team harboring those expectations.
The Los Angeles Lakers have won 17 NBA championships. The Clippers have never even won 50 games in a season. For that reason, the Clippers and Lakers have never been considered to have much of a rivalry, despite the fact that they share not only the same town, but actually play home games in the same building. The Lakers and their fans have always relished playing the “big brother” role to the hapless Clippers.
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All of this made the events of last offseason truly remarkable. The Lakers not only missed out on getting Chris Paul, but he ended up playing for the little brother. Worse yet, he actually seemed happy to be there.
There was more cause for concern among the Laker faithful: At the time, the team was coming off a disappointing early playoff exit after having won two consecutive championships. Legendary coach Phil Jackson was out the door. Kobe Bryant was on the wrong side of 30. Ron Artest was a shadow of his former self. Pau Gasol, while still superb, was seen as little more than a potential trade chip. Andrew Bynum was coming into his own as a dominant center, but Laker fans never embraced him the way they have other Laker big men of the past (Wilt, Kareem, Shaq). And who would be backing those players up from the bench? Only such notable stars as Troy Murphy, Andrew Goudelock, and Devin Ebanks.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Staples Center, “Lob City” was being born. And for the first time in a great while, there was a genuine sense of excitement and anticipation surrounding the Clippers. Blake Griffin had already emerged as the most exciting young big man in the NBA, not to mention the most League Pass and Twitter-friendly due to his numerous highlight-reel dunks. His frontcourt partner DeAndre Jordan was also long on potential and athleticism, not to mention just long in general. With the arrival of Paul, and another talented veteran point guard in Chauncey Billups, the lowly Clippers were suddenly the most buzz worthy team in the NBA.
Of course, that was a year ago. And as we all know, the weather is, for the most part, always sunny in Lakerland. Whenever the Lakers seem to be down, their excellent front office manages to recoup quickly. And, sure enough, the team went out over this past summer and had themselves an offseason for the ages.
They acquired the services of the aforementioned Dwight Howard. And while that move alone would have made the Lakers the big winners of summer 2012, the roster overhaul did not end there. The Lakers also acquired former all-star Antawn Jamison and former two-time MVP and current top 10 NBA point guard Steve Nash. And thus, as quickly as they had emerged into the spotlight, the Clippers were ushered back into the shadows. The Lakers regained their crown as the most trendy NBA team in L.A.
But those eager to crown the Lakers kings of the league – or even just of the Western Conference – would be wise to not overlook that other team playing in the Staples Center.
Let us not forget, the Lakers dropped two of three games to the Clippers last season. And while this new Lakers team looks to be much improved, there is some downside to such a radical roster overhaul. Last year, the Clippers themselves really brought their final roster together only about two weeks before the start of the season. Because of that, they were adjusting and learning to work together on the fly; a fact often reflected by the quality of their play.
Despite those issues, the Clippers managed to win 60 percent of their games last year while boasting the fourth-highest offensive efficiency in the league. This year, the Clippers will return five starters from last year, all healthy and with an additional year of maturity and playoff experience (vital for younger players like Griffin and Jordan, as well as sterling backup guard Eric Bledsoe).
The average age of that Clippers starting lineup is 28, despite the presence of 36-year old Chauncey Billups. The Lakers starters, on the other hand, have an average age of 32, and that isn’t including 36-year old Antawn Jamison, who figures to play heavy minutes off the bench given the thinness of the Lakers’ rotation. The Lakers will also be instilling a new offensive system this year, the Princeton offense. A group of aging players learning to play together while simultaneously learning a new system could be problematic for this new-look team.
Potential chemistry issues with the purple and gold could also be encountered along the way. During his days in Phoenix, Steve Nash constantly had the ball in his hands throughout each possession, often dribbling around until the waning seconds of the shot clock. That may not sit well with Mr. Bryant, who has been known to demand the ball from time to time. Dwight Howard also sometimes complained in Orlando that he wasn’t seeing the ball enough. If he voices those complaints in L.A., it will be interesting to watch how Bryant responds, given that he is an alpha dog who may feel threatened by Howard, the first teammate Kobe has had in years who most would consider to be the superior player at this point in their respective careers.
However, the Clippers did not sit idly by in the offseason while the Lakers scooped up all the talent. After another successful summer, the Clippers are now arguably the deepest team in the NBA.
The team can boast nine players in the #NBARank top 130, while no other team has more than seven. They acquired Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford, Grant Hill and Matt Barnes, among others.
Odom is a versatile defender who can guard multiple positions. Hill and Barnes, along with incumbent Caron Butler, are all perimeter defenders who have had success guarding Bryant in past. That is coupled with the shot-blocking abilities of DeAndre Jordan (who is also one of the few players in the league who can physically match up with the immense Howard down low) and the pilfering tendencies of noted thief Chris Paul, who has led the league in steals. Additionally, former Clipper and veteran tough guy defender Kenyon Martin is still a free agent. Rumors suggest he could re-sign with the Clippers as well.
All this means that the Clippers have the potential to be a dominant team defensively this year to go along with their high-powered offense. Conversely, the Lakers’ defense could be their Achilles’ heel.
They have Howard, who has the potential to steady an entire defense by himself, but assuming the young center is even on the court, his mobility could be limited by his back issues. If that is the case, the Lakers may find themselves in big trouble. At his age, Kobe is now an overrated one-on-one defender. Due to his declining athleticism, Artest is no longer a special defender either. And the position where the Lakers’ defense is arguably the weakest – point guard with Steve Nash – happens to be the position played by Chris Paul, the most lethal true point guard in the entire NBA.
While depth may be a newfound strength for the Clippers, the Lakers, who have frequently fielded a rather suspect second unit in recent years, figure to be deficient in that area yet again. They owe Bryant, Howard and Gasol alone around $66 million this season, and will have trouble signing other above-average players in the coming years given their inflexible cap situation. This year, the Lakers will have to hope that players like Jordan Hill, Robert Sacre and Earl Clark can hold the fort when their top players are resting, something they may need to do often given the advanced age of players like Nash, Bryant and Jamison. And, given those depth concerns, the Lakers could be in real trouble if one of their top players suffers a serious injury. Already their young star, Howard, is injured and it is unclear how effective he will be in the opening weeks or months of the season.
Of course, all that plays directly into the hands of the Clippers, who will hope the old adage proves true: speed kills. In head-to-head matchups between the Lakers and Clippers this year, Chris Paul will have his young horses off to the races in hopes of out-running an older Lakers squad that will no doubt try to win by grinding out games in the half-court.
It’s easy upon first glance to favor the Lakers in that matchup. Once again, as in years past, all the glitz and star power of the Lake Show has tilted public favor in their direction. But intelligent basketball fans should know better than to dismiss the Clippers outright, as it has been so easy to do in past years. The Clippers have stability, youth, and depth on their side. They also possess perhaps the greatest weapon of all in this suddenly thriving rivalry: CP3 himself, the Clippers’ undisputed leader and best player.
Paul is every bit as driven and passionate as Kobe Bryant, with one distinct difference: He is seven years younger. And, unfortunately for the Lakers, he is a point guard, meaning he is going to have the ball in his hands an awful lot this upcoming season.
For that reason, the Lakers, no matter how many headlines they may make in the coming weeks, shouldn’t be so quick to discount their “little brother” again this season. Doing so could prove fatal to their championship aspirations.
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