Are the Lakers About to Have Their Wings Clipped By Their Los Angeles Neighbours?

One of the quirks in NBA history is that the Los Angeles Clippers have never made it to the NBA Finals.

It enrages their fans all the more knowing that the Lakers are the second-most decorated team in NBA history – 32 Finals appearances resulting in 17 championship victories, tied with the Boston Celtics on the all-time list (Boston once won 11 NBA Titles in 13 years, including eight in a row, a feat that has never been challenged).

But it only takes a season or two for change to be in the offing, and right now it feels as if the Clippers are more likely to bring the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy back to Los Angeles than the Lakers.

So can they finally end their 40-year wait for an NBA title, and take up the throne as the kings of Californian basketball?

Upsetting the Odds

Not for the first time in their recent history, the Boston Celtics find themselves favorites to end their own NBA title drought – a wait that’s gone on for more than 15 years.

The online betting with Betfair has Boston at +240 to win the NBA Finals this season, although of course we’ve been here before with the Celtics.

Their credentials are impressive – they were the first team in the entire NBA to confirm their playoff berth after racking up an impressive 52-14 record, but is this an outfit that leans too heavily on the immense talents of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown?

The Nuggets are considered to be the second favorites, and while they have the pedigree to successfully defend their championship, there’s a feeling that they aren’t quite the same vintage as they were last term – with the sky-scraping levels of Nikola Jokic also regressing somewhat.

Third up, as far as the sportsbooks are concerned, are the Clippers, whose smooth passage to the summit of the ever-competitive Pacific Division has not gone unnoticed.

They made their intentions clear when capturing the signing of James Harden early on in the campaign. Some eyebrows were raised – although Harden’s talent is not in doubt, the Clippers are the fourth franchise he has played for since 2021 alone. That does not scream loyalty and longevity in abundance.

But even so, the 34-year-old has rolled his sleeves up out on the court, averaging 17.4 points per game (at the time of writing) to form a scoring supergroup alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Ivica Zubac is putting on a rebounding masterclass at both ends of the court, while in brief cameos Russell Westbrook has been his trademark creative, scheming self.

The challenge is that time is perhaps not on the side of this Clippers roster. Most of their key figures are now a couple of years into their thirties, which by no means suggests there will be an en masse march to the basketball retirement home any time soon – but it does still mean that there’s no time like the present for this experienced set of players.

There have been some harsh lessons learned along the way – not least home-field defeats to the Lakers and the Bucks, the latter opponent now handing out two losses to the Clippers in the month of March alone.

Many NBA champions have taken their eye off the ball during the regular season, but the concern is that the Los Angeles franchise has come unstuck against elite opposition in such comprehensive fashion.

Ultimately, in the playoffs, that inability to step up in class may just prove costly. So can the Clippers improve again and finally win an NBA Championship crown?

Future Furore

If the present looks good for the Clippers, over at the Crypto.com Arena the picture is less edifying – and it could be set to get worse in the near future.

The Lakers remain heavily reliant on LeBron James, who at the age of 39 is still averaging 25.2 points per game, realistically only has a couple of seasons left in professional basketball – his status as a global brand means that everyone associated with the Lakers will be reluctant to let him go, but when does the rebuild begin?

And then there’s Anthony Davis, who is having a fine season of his own. Darvin Ham and the back-office team need to make a decision – make him the star of the show, or face losing him in the trade window.

There’s a general lack of quality on the Lakers roster, most would surely agree, and often building up depth comes about by letting an expensive piece go – freeing up the resources to carry out a rebuilding operation.

There would be no shortage of suitors for Davis, who would need to be convinced that there’s a succession plan for the post-LeBron years – probably with him as the new king – and that the likes of Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura can kick on and become quality operators at an elite level.

If not, AD might move on to pastures new – leaving the Lakers with an almighty battle to reel in the Clippers as the top franchise in Los Angeles.