The cursed Clippers latest failure may mark the stunning end of an era
It was another disappointing season for the Los Angeles Clippers, as they were bounced out in the first round in six games to the Dallas Mavericks after another subpar season when you consider expectations coming into the season.
It's been five years since the Clippers acquired superstar forwards Kawhi Leonard (who was fresh off leading the Toronto Raptors to their first title in franchise history) and Paul George, who was traded from the Oklahoma CIty Thunder coming off that year finishing in theThunder,City in the top three in MVP voting in 2018-19.
It feels so long ago considering it was a world before COVID-19 plagued the world from 2020–2022, and in that five-year span, the Clippers duo of Leonard-George has been a colossal disappointment for various reasons. Let's get into them.
The Clippers have a history of playoff disappointments.
Since the Leonard-George era began, the Clippers have only made the conference finals one time in their five seasons together, and that came in 2021 when they faced the Phoenix Suns without Leonard, who was having a great playoff run before tearing his ACL against the Utah Jazz in Game 4 of the semifinal round.
Outside of that year, here's some of the rest of their playoff resume from the last five seasons:
- Blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in 2020 under Doc Rivers
- Made the Play-In Tournament in 2022 but didn't advance
- Lost in the first-round to Phoenix Suns in 2023
- Lost in first-round to Dallas Mavericks 2024