Los Angeles Clippers: Clipper fans should root for Golden State

The Golden State Warriors narrowly outlasted elimination in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, which is exactly what Los Angeles Clippers fans should want.

The Los Angeles Clippers might not be in the 2019 NBA Playoffs but that does not mean that Clipper fans do not have a team to root for. In fact, the team that you should be rooting for is the very same team that defeated the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs, the Golden State Warriors.

It sounds terrible, I know. The Warriors have done so much winning that very few fans outside of Warriors fans actually want to see them win. While the basketball world respects the talent of the Warriors, there certainly is the feeling that the team is getting old.

The Toronto Raptors nearly ended the dynasty with an emphatic stamp on Monday night in Game 5. Toronto held a six-point lead late in the ball game and Kawhi Leonard went on an inhuman run. However, just as quickly as they took the lead, the Warriors went up by three and ended up winning by two.

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Anything can happen in these next two games and as long as it is positive for the Warriors then it is positive for the Clippers. It might seem and feel absolutely crazy with the Clippers being a rival, but the Warriors winning helps the Clippers’ offseason.

Let’s say the Raptors win the NBA Finals this year. Let’s consider what could happen:

Kawhi Leonard may very well be convinced by a championship and decide to stay in Toronto. While this seems very unlikely at the moment, winning a ring certainly can convince a person otherwise. That would be a problem for the Clippers, as Leonard is the number one target this summer.

The other superstar that is affected by losing is Kevin Durant. Unfortunately, Durant suffered an Achilles injury on Monday in his first game back from the calf injury he suffered a month ago.

How this affects the offseason we do not quite know yet due to the severity of the injury. If it ends up eating away part of his season, he very well could just accept his player option, knowing he won’t get the long-term deal he wants.

But let’s say that the injury has no impact and that teams would be willing to sign him regardless. Even with a healthy Achilles, losing the Finals could be enough to convince Durant to stay for at least one more year.

Falling short and not getting that third ring could leave a sour taste in his mouth, leading to him accepting that option and going back at it for another ring. Even better for Durant, this time it would be on his terms.

There still is a chance that he does not leave Golden State even if he wins a ring but the odds certainly are higher if he does win. Everybody knows that Durant is chasing greatness and his move away from Golden State has been well speculated over the last year.

Moving on from Golden State removes the stigma around him as a ring chaser and going and bringing a ring to a different franchise would catapult him up the all-time ranks, which he is already on.

Regardless, it is clear that it should be in the Los Angeles Clippers’ best intentions to actually root for one of the team’s biggest rivals.