Los Angeles Clippers: The Importance of Championship Experience

With a relatively inexperienced squad, can Doc take the Los Angeles Clippers to the next level? (Flickr.com photo by Keith Allison)

The Los Angeles Clippers seemingly have everything in place to win a championship next season. High-caliber, championship-winning coach, check. Superstars and a quality supporting cast, check. Veterans to lead the championship campaign, check … sort of.

In the NBA, sometimes talent alone is not enough to win; hell, Sacramento has a lot of talent, yet they are still playing the lottery odds year in and year out.  Experience is the missing component.

These Los Angeles Clippers have a total of 74 years on NBA experience between them and the only player has an NBA Finals appearance under his belt and that would be J.J. Redick.

With all due respect to the Redick, I suppose he is now considered a veteran(ish), but he is not the type of player who can be an emotional leader of a championship-caliber team. He won’t be the guy to calm guys down during an elimination game in the first round of the playoffs nor will he be the guy you turn to for guidance in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

The counter argument for that could be superstar point guard, Chris Paul. However the best CP3 has ever been able to muster is a Western Conference semiinals defeat. In an interview with Rachel Nichols, Paul even admitted that his championship ring pursuit hasn’t exactly been smooth, stating that: “I’m going into my ninth NBA season and I haven’t even gotten close to an NBA title.”

The perfect player that L.A. could have gone for would have been former MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Garnett, who is also an NBA champion. Him or 16-year veteran Chauncey Billups who has not only been to the biggest stage, but has also done it as he led the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons to an NBA championship and earned himself Finals MVP honors.

By the way, his nickname is “Mr Big Shot” — that alone screams NBA championship to me. Plus, he would have been cheap, too, given the chance at another title run.

But as luck would have it, Billups signed on for a second stint with Detroit and the NBA vetoed any idea that the Clippers would essentially trade for both Garnett and Doc Rivers.

Quite rightly so, L.A. went for the coach and the newly appointed coach and senior vice president for basketball operations Doc Rivers could go a long way to filling that role. He is a battle-tested coach who is renowned for his man management and ability to motivate his players. However, when he won his championship ring back in 2008, he had three veterans with more than 30 years of experience between them as well as some leadership from two-time NBA champion Sam Cassell.

There are still some options out in the free agent market who can assume the position, for example, Metta World Peace is available having being amnestied by the Lakers, and since he has cleared waivers, the Clippers can snap him up. The problem, however, is that the New York Knicks are also in the running and, according to multiple reports, in the lead for his signature.

The Clippers though are still optimistic as mutual interest from the player and the team is high because he wouldn’t have to relocate. Plus the Lakers still have to pay him the $7.7 million he was due to make in 2013-14, so essentially, it would be like the Lakers are paying him to beat them four times next year. Seriously, this is a no-brainer for me, who wouldn’t love the chance to make their old bosses miserable?

Doc Rivers desperately needs depth at the big man spots so maybe re-signing two-time NBA champion and former Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom could be on the cards due to his versatility. Maybe even signing veterans like an Antwan Jamison–who would also be making a switch from the purple and gold–or Kenyon Martin, who can play multiple positions.

No matter who they sign, it’s clear that the Clippers are making a statement and are all in to win now. However, in order to accomplish that goal, they will need a blend of both young talent and veteran leadership to wipe out the memory of last year’s disastrous playoff run. After all, experience is life’s best teacher, just LeBron James or even the great Michael Jordan.

Lets just hope this continues.