Los Angeles will always favor the Lakers

Much has been made recently about the Clippers decision to cover up the Lakers championship banners and retired jerseys during Clipper home games and I don’t understand why. When the Clippers have a home game they deserve to be able to make it their own arena and just because they share the stadium with the Lakers doesn’t mean that they need to keep Laker stuff all around.

Covering up the purple and gold is a ploy by an organization that finally is looking to step out from under the huge shadow of their big brother. The Clippers may have covered the banners up but everyone still knows what is behind the cover. As a NBA fan, I wish the Clippers luck this season as they try and become a powerhouse NBA team.

Staples Center is home to both the Clippers and Lakers but is more known because of the purple and gold. By Prayitno from Los Angeles, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

I find it extremely comical that now that the Clippers are relevant, the “fans” have started to come out of their shell and support the team. Before the “basketball reasons” incident from a few years ago, you could walk down the street in Los Angeles and not see a single Clippers anything, no billboards, no merchandise being worn, nothing. Although I will admit that the Clippers have become the most exciting team in Los Angeles, they will never be the city’s favorite. Since the Lakers moved to LA, they have built such a strong fan base that their dominance will never be broken — no matter how good the Clippers become. Even though the Clippers are now a title contender, based off their history they are still a borderline NBA franchise until they prove otherwise. One division title in the 43 years the organization has been around is not a great track record. Many people would disagree with my take on who runs Los Angeles, but until they win anything, I stand by my statement. If they do end up winning anything I will be the first to take it back.

After winning a team-record 56 games last season, the Clippers seemed to finally be able to break through and make a run at an NBA title but ended up being bounced in the first round and ended up having only two more playoff wins than a depleted Lakers team without Kobe Bryant. People might look at that statistic as irrelevant but to me that says a lot about the two teams that share Staples.

This season looks to be different with the addition of Doc Rivers and some new players and time will tell. When the Lakers and Clippers are talked about, many people use the words “bragging rights” pertaining to the regular season wins. For me though, the Clippers can have all the regular season wins against the Lakers they want because at the end of the day championships are what matter most. Last time I checked the tally was 16-0 in favor of the purple and gold. If the Clippers ever want to be associated with the Lakers as a great franchise, they will have to do more than cover up the Laker championship banners in the building and start adding some of their own. Fans and analysts can talk all they want about Los Angeles being a Clipper town now and they aren’t wrong about them being the better team, but Los Angeles is and always will be a Laker town.