By The Lakers own the past and the Clippers own the future as the premier powerhouse team in Los Angeles.
Since Phil Jackson retired as a coach, and Kobe Bryant has suffered a few major injuries, the Los Angeles Lakers have not seen a winning season in three years.
The Lakers have been on a downward spiral to becoming one of the worst teams in the NBA. Although the Lakers barely clinched a position in the playoffs during Mike Brown’s two-year spurt as the head coach, the Lakers’ fate as a Los Angeles powerhouse would soon come to an end.
During the 2012-2013 NBA season, the Lakers fired Brown and replaced him with interim head coach Bernie Bickerstaff who was ultimately replaced by Mike D’Antoni. The Lakers finished the 2013-2014 season with an overall record of 27-55 while D’Antoni was the coach. But after the Lakers’ record went south, D’Antoni was also fired and Byron Scott was hired as the head coach.
Unfortunately, the Lakers began the 2014-2015 season with a few season-ending injuries to their elite player Kobe “Black Mamba” Bryant. The Lakers nearly finished dead last with a record of 21-61.
Historically, basketball fans viewed the Los Angeles Clippers as the younger brother of the two Los Angeles teams; they would always get picked on by the Lakers and the rest of the teams in the league and were not expected to clinch a playoff spot during the post season.
Well, that little brother has grown up and become the better team. The Clippers is now the more likely team to bring the city of Los Angeles another NBA championship. After the Clippers 2010-2011 losing season of 32-50, the team increased its record during the following years.
The Clippers’ record increased from 40-26 during the 2011-2012 season, which placed them in fifth place in the western conference, to 56-26, placing them in third place during the current 2014-2015 NBA season.
The rising team has successfully clinched a playoff spot during the last four seasons and is currently displaying a great deal of promise.
The city of Los Angeles will have another championship title, but with a new team’s name on it: the Clippers.
Andre Crenshaw Jr. is a fifth-year journalism major.
