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The Clippers' dynasty that never was: 'Maybe we weren’t good enough’
Michael Lee
Yahoo SportsOct 30, 2017, 2:35 PM
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(Yahoo Sports graphic by Amber Matsumoto)
LOS ANGELES — They had a nickname before they’d even played a game. The Los Angeles Clippers were so accustomed to failure that even the smallest of victories was often cause for celebration. But they had a legitimate reason for jubilation on Dec. 12, 2011, when they acquired Chris Paul in a controversial trade that — for once — gave them an edge over the crosstown-rival Lakers. DeAndre Jordan was on the phone, in shock, when he got wind of the deal executed between the NBA — which ran the New Orleans Hornets at the time — and a franchise that seemed stuck forever. And Blake Griffin was so excited, he jumped, side-bumped Jordan and shouted, “It’s going to be Lob City!”
Lob City became a movement that gave Clippers fans a chance to come out of hiding and rock red, white and blue without shame in a purple-and-gold town. The Clippers had a future Hall of Fame point guard and two of the most athletic big men in the game, including one who could hurdle a car. They later had basketball fans feeling sorry for Brandon Knight after Jordan threw down a dunk so vicious that it sent Knight crashing to the floor. They made Andrew Bynum embarrassed for Pau Gasol after Griffin used a running-back quality stiff arm before dunking all over him. They turned routine fastbreak opportunities into mixtape moments, with Jamal Crawford going between the legs before tossing a pass over his head for another Jordan dunk. They were fun. They were exciting. And they soon hated the nickname.
Several times, the Clippers tried to run from Lob City because they felt marginalized by what it implied. They did more than dunk. They had skill. They executed with precision. They didn’t want to be the NBA’s version of cotton candy — a sugar rush of highlight dunks and regular-season wins followed by an unsettling crash. They wanted to be taken seriously, but each disappointing postseason failure made it easier to dismiss them.
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Blake Griffin and Chris Paul were behind some of the Clippers’ best seasons. (AP)
They were entertaining but eventually the Golden State Warriors surpassed them on the must-watch list and as a feared contender. They were dynamic but never when it counted. They had so much misfortune that it stopped being coincidence. They were together longer than they needed to be, too stubborn to recognize or confront what had become obvious to most everyone else until it was much too late. And by the end, the game had left them behind.
Lob City finally came to a close when Paul, the man responsible for so many of the well-placed alley-oops, bypassed an easy, gargantuan payday and placed it on the back burner to pursue something more meaningful and fulfilling. Paul forced a trade to the Houston Rockets last June, leaving in shambles the most successful six-year run in the Clippers’ less-than-storied history. Griffin and Jordan remain from a team that — for myriad reasons — was never more than a tease, with a legacy almost as empty as the nickname from which they could never escape.
“You look at the past five years, what have we really accomplished? I think the reason people were calling for us to break up, or blow it up, or move on, or whatever it was, is because we haven’t accomplished anything,” Griffin told The Vertical. “I think after you’re here for five or six years and everybody is dogging you and going through the misery of losing in the playoffs, four or five years, I think it wears on you.”
The Clippers' dynasty that never was: 'Maybe we weren’t good enough’
The Clippers' dynasty that never was: 'Maybe we weren’t good enough’
Michael Lee
Yahoo SportsOct 30, 2017, 2:35 PM
View photos
(Yahoo Sports graphic by Amber Matsumoto)
LOS ANGELES — They had a nickname before they’d even played a game. The Los Angeles Clippers were so accustomed to failure that even the smallest of victories was often cause for celebration. But they had a legitimate reason for jubilation on Dec. 12, 2011, when they acquired Chris Paul in a controversial trade that — for once — gave them an edge over the crosstown-rival Lakers. DeAndre Jordan was on the phone, in shock, when he got wind of the deal executed between the NBA — which ran the New Orleans Hornets at the time — and a franchise that seemed stuck forever. And Blake Griffin was so excited, he jumped, side-bumped Jordan and shouted, “It’s going to be Lob City!”
Lob City became a movement that gave Clippers fans a chance to come out of hiding and rock red, white and blue without shame in a purple-and-gold town. The Clippers had a future Hall of Fame point guard and two of the most athletic big men in the game, including one who could hurdle a car. They later had basketball fans feeling sorry for Brandon Knight after Jordan threw down a dunk so vicious that it sent Knight crashing to the floor. They made Andrew Bynum embarrassed for Pau Gasol after Griffin used a running-back quality stiff arm before dunking all over him. They turned routine fastbreak opportunities into mixtape moments, with Jamal Crawford going between the legs before tossing a pass over his head for another Jordan dunk. They were fun. They were exciting. And they soon hated the nickname.
Several times, the Clippers tried to run from Lob City because they felt marginalized by what it implied. They did more than dunk. They had skill. They executed with precision. They didn’t want to be the NBA’s version of cotton candy — a sugar rush of highlight dunks and regular-season wins followed by an unsettling crash. They wanted to be taken seriously, but each disappointing postseason failure made it easier to dismiss them.
View photos
Blake Griffin and Chris Paul were behind some of the Clippers’ best seasons. (AP)
They were entertaining but eventually the Golden State Warriors surpassed them on the must-watch list and as a feared contender. They were dynamic but never when it counted. They had so much misfortune that it stopped being coincidence. They were together longer than they needed to be, too stubborn to recognize or confront what had become obvious to most everyone else until it was much too late. And by the end, the game had left them behind.
Lob City finally came to a close when Paul, the man responsible for so many of the well-placed alley-oops, bypassed an easy, gargantuan payday and placed it on the back burner to pursue something more meaningful and fulfilling. Paul forced a trade to the Houston Rockets last June, leaving in shambles the most successful six-year run in the Clippers’ less-than-storied history. Griffin and Jordan remain from a team that — for myriad reasons — was never more than a tease, with a legacy almost as empty as the nickname from which they could never escape.
“You look at the past five years, what have we really accomplished? I think the reason people were calling for us to break up, or blow it up, or move on, or whatever it was, is because we haven’t accomplished anything,” Griffin told The Vertical. “I think after you’re here for five or six years and everybody is dogging you and going through the misery of losing in the playoffs, four or five years, I think it wears on you.”
The Clippers' dynasty that never was: 'Maybe we weren’t good enough’
had no idea he shytted on the clippers like this:
