LA Clippers: A first championship would mean the world for this team
The past of the Clippers franchise
In the past decade, the Clippers have been to the playoffs seven times. Outside of the past 10 years, the team only made it to the playoffs six times in their entire history. In the past, it’s safe to say that the Clippers were not committed to winning. Now it seems like there isn’t a season where they are not in the playoffs.
Bob McAdoo led the Clippers to the first three playoff appearances in franchise history. They were never able to reach the Conference Finals. The Clippers were not able to taste success until the early 90s where they made the playoffs back to back years. They didn’t get past the first round both years.
After a quick first-round exit in 1997, the Clippers were not able to make it to the playoffs until 2005-06. After a first-round win, they lost in the Semi-Finals.
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In 2011-12 the Clippers started a six-year run of making the playoffs. It’s the longest run in team history. They were never able to make it to the Western Conference Finals.
Why have the Clippers never made it past the second round? Matt Barnes provided an answer.
He said on a talk show in 2018:
"“We really had one of the most talented teams that never won a championship in LA and I think it was our own fault,” Barnes said on the Lunchtime with Roggin and Rodney show on AM 570 LA Sports. “We were in our own way. Just too many egos, young acting. We thought we were going to be the Warriors right up until they won the championship. We knocked them out of the playoffs the year before they came back and won, so we had a very talented team. We just couldn’t get on the same page. It was crazy. We were all cool off the court and I was like, ‘how are we cool off the court and can’t get it together on the court?’"
The Clippers have never been able to have a team that set aside their pride and lay it all on the line just for overall team success. With this team, the chemistry is top-notch. A Clippers team has never seen this much unselfishness from the superstars on down. Learning from the past has led to a great future for this franchise.