There are a lot of factors that come into play during the development of a sports rivalry. I could spend ten paragraphs listing of the many ways two teams come to hate one another, but the reality is that the majority of sports rivalries come about because of one thing, proximity.
Teams that play in the same city within the big four North American sports leagues always develop hatred toward one another, but that leads basketball fans in Los Angeles to wonder … why haven’t the Clippers and Lakers become a major rivalry?
Los Angeles is a massive sports market and the NBA is arguably the most popular sports leagues in North America, yet these two teams haven’t led to much excitement in the world of rivalries. The Clippers were the Lakers little brother for the majority of their history, and by the time the “Lob City” era came about, the Lakers dynasty had crumbled into a rebuild. The two have never been good at the same time, have never met in the postseason, and have never had any exciting player matchups.
This will all change this fall, however, as both teams have completely overhauled their rosters, filling them with exciting all-stars. The Lakers star duo of Lebron James and Anthony Davis will go head to head with newly acquired Clippers’ All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Both teams go deeper than their big names however, the Clippers will be holding onto Patrick Beverly and former Laker Lou Williams while the Lakers are adding Demarcus “Boogie” Cousins and Danny Green.
Stars alone can make a rivalry great, but the recent history surrounding Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will add some much-needed fire to this matchup as well. The Clippers’ big two of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard at several points over the last few years seemed like virtual locks to end up with the purple and gold. Several reports indicated that the two had full intention to head to the Lakers if they weren’t traded there prior to free agency, but when the time came to make their decisions Leonard and George opted to sign with the Clippers and Thunder respectively.
It’s a new era for both LA basketball teams that promises to be much more exciting than in decades past.
