Los Angeles Lakers: There Is No Rivalry With The Clippers

By Jackson Sanders | Apr 6, 2015

Apr 5, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) and center DeAndre Jordan (6) on the bench in the fourth quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Clippers won 106-78. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

Three times this regular season the Los Angeles Lakers have shared the court with the Los Angeles Clippers. Three times they have been sent back in defeat, and with only one game left against the “other” Los Angeles team, there is no hope for a season series win in what has been dubbed “The Battle For L.A.” by many.

However, the truth is there is very little competition between these two clubs.

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The past is owned by the Los Angles Lakers. They boast multiple franchise (and league) legends, championships (16 to be exact), and still are one of the most popular teams in the league despite their recent ineptitude.

The Clippers? They have little playoff success to speak of, and claim a franchise winning percentage of 38.8 percent all-time.

The present is unquestionably owned by the Los Angeles Clippers. They have three star players in Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and a point guard who

should have

would have been a Laker if it weren’t for those pesky “basketball reasons.” They’ve ripped off three consecutive 50 win seasons while the Lakers have suffered two of the worst seasons in franchise history in back-to-back years.

The Lakers are 1-10 against the Clippers over the last three seasons.

The future is completely up for grabs, for both teams, as it has yet to be written. The Los Angeles Lakers look to be primed to reload sooner than later, and the Clippers are legitimate championship contenders right now. Strides on either side could “win” the future for either team.

In that sense, it’s ironic that the only place that the Lakers and the Clippers can have a true “Battle Los Angeles” is in that same future.

True NBA rivalries are born out of disdain for the opponent, fueled by the intense heat of competition. Games played between the teams involved usually mean something when it comes to the championship chase. The games played between these two teams rarely feature that criteria.

While the Lakers were dominant and winning championships, the Clippers were mostly a doormat. In recent years teams like the Tim Duncan-led Spurs, Steve Nash’s Suns, and, of course, Paul Pierce’s Boston Celtics, were the rivals for the Lakers. The common theme? Playoff battles, and the history forged in them.

The Clippers have their rivals as well, most notably the Golden State Warriors, but the Lakers are currently not among them. Simply put, there’s not much on the line when these two teams play, and the history between them hasn’t meant much either.

Perhaps in the future, Julius Randle and Blake Griffin will duel it out in the Western Conference Finals with everything on the line. Maybe there is an epic seven-game series that absolutely rips the heart out of the losing fan base, fueling the idea that a rivalry could burn brightly between two teams that should be serious rivals.

But, until that fateful day, it’s best to look at these games for what they are: two teams playing in the same city, who play in the same division (which is fairly meaningless in itself). The sides have been too far apart in the past, and are certainly too far apart now, to make any game have true weight behind it.

On the court, there is no rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.

Yet.

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