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Is The Lakers-Clippers Matchup Becoming A Legitimate Rivalry?

By Mehdi Bouneb

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The Clippers swept the season series against the Lakers for the second time in three seasons, beating them for the sixth time in their last seven meetings. The Lakers’ lone victory dates back to opening night of the 2013/14 season, when the team won on a score of 116-103.

Can we start talking about a legitimate rivalry now? Let’s slow down and first look at the numbers.

The Clippers moved to Los Angeles from San Diego in 1984. Since then, the teams have met for a total of 204 contests, with the Lakers winning 144 games.

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All of these matchups happened during the regular season and the teams have yet to meet in the playoffs.

The Lakers are the most successful franchise out of the two, and have been around since 1947, originally known as the Minneapolis Lakers. It is only in 1960 that the franchise moved to Los Angeles. The Lakers have 61 post-season appearances, 23 division titles, 31 conference titles, and 16 NBA championships. The Clippers have made the playoffs 11 times, and only have two division titles to their merit. The Clippers have failed to pass the Western Conference Semifinals, and hope that the tides will change this season.

Granted, the Clippers currently have the better team in Los Angeles. It is no coincidence that the arrival of Chris Paul in a 2011 trade has certainly helped the Clippers become relevant. Let us not forget that before the Clippers acquired Paul, he was traded to the Lakers but David Stern vetoed the trade for ‘basketball reasons’.

Since Chris Paul’s arrival in Los Angeles, the Clippers have won 12 of the last 14 meetings against the Lakers. Doc Rivers was named head coach of the Clippers in the 2013/14 season, and decided to cover the Lakers’ championship banners and retired jerseys with a landscape picture of the Clippers’ players for their home games though. Despite the Clippers trying to take over the City of Angels, both Byron Scott and Doc Rivers deny this matchup to be a rivalry:

Byron Scott: “I don’t consider the Lakers and Clippers a true rivalry yet. Obviously, our biggest rival has always been the Celtics. They have 17 banners and we have 16. That’s a rivalry”.

Doc Rivers: “The Lakers have been pretty dominant. We’ve won as of late. It’s going to take us a lot more to call it a rivalry, honestly. We have to do a lot more stuff and then we can call it a rivalry”.

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It’s true, the Lakers and Clippers haven’t competed against each other for something meaningful, such as a place in the Finals. They have yet to meet in the post-season, and once they do, only then can we start calling their matchup a rivalry. Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan seem to agree:

Chris Paul: “Byron Scott used to tell me that rivalries form when you play teams in the playoffs and we haven’t played them in the playoffs”.

DeAndre Jordan: “I don’t think so. I don’t think it will ever be a rivalry. I would say Memphis more than the Lakers”.

Bottom Line: People may say that the Lakers are living in the past but history cannot be ignored

The battle of Los Angeles still has a long way to go. We will not see a Lakers-Clippers matchup in the upcoming Playoffs but once fans get to witness both teams in the playoffs competing against each other, this will be a very anticipated matchup with the Lakers wanting to put an end to the talks of who owns Los Angeles.

Los Angeles remains a Laker town and until the Clippers start winning championships, the Lakers will still rule L.A.

Next: Clippers Survive Lakers In Latest Segment Of Battle L.A.

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