Luka Doncic rivalry with Clippers reminiscent of LeBron and Pistons
By Duncan Smith
Luka Doncic is developing a special relationship with the LA Clippers, like LeBron James with the 2007 Detroit Pistons
There comes a time for some ill-fated teams when a young player transitions from somebody you really enjoy watching play basketball, to somebody you realize is going to be a real problem. A player like this can swiftly go from being a nice story to the reason your franchise may never win a championship for the entirety of their career, simply because they exist.
The LA Clippers are in danger of being in that category. After wilting under the pressure of maintaining a 3-1 lead against the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs last season, these Clippers that were built to contend for a couple of championships right now (and the future be damned) may be realizing that they’ll never win anything more than Luka Doncic allows them to.
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As a Detroit Pistons fan, I went through this transition myself in the mid-2000s when LeBron James went shifted from an elite young player to perhaps the greatest to ever play the game of basketball. The specific moment when the shift happened probably took place earlier or later than this, but it manifested itself in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.
The Pistons won the first two games of that series by a combined six points, but the 23-year-old LeBron was an unmatched force that couldn’t be contained for long. After his Cleveland Cavaliers won the next two games to draw the series even, James took over in historic fashion down the stretch in a pivotal Game 5.
He scored 25 straight points, and 29 of the last 30 points the Cavs scored over the final 16 minutes of the game. In all, LeBron James scored 48 points in 50 minutes of play in a game his squad won by just two points.
It wasn’t a direct path for James to championship glory, because he didn’t win one for another five years. It also wasn’t the final blow in the Pistons’ Eastern Conference dynastic run, because they had one more Eastern Conference Finals appearance in them but fell short against the Boston Celtics the next season.
However, it was when the Pistons knew that their time of reigning supreme over LeBron James was a thing of the past. Should they meet him again in the NBA playoffs, he was as good as immortal.