The Los Angeles Clippers Are Cursed and Always Will Be
When the city of Los Angeles comes to mind in terms of basketball everyone thinks of the Lakers and their prestigious 17 championships. Over the past decade, the Los Angeles Clippers have had numerous all-stars on the team but yet can’t seem to find the answers to go all the way to the NBA Finals. The closest the Clippers have gotten was in 2021 when they advanced to the Western Conference Finals but lost in six games to the Phoenix Suns. Now with the addition of James Harden to the team, a lot of people thought this team was a bona fide championship contender, in actuality this team has been awful since the Harden trade, going 1-5. They just won their first game with Harden on Friday against Harden’s former team, the Houston Rockets in a 106-100 victory. When some thought this team could win it all, they currently sit in eleventh place within the Western Conference with a 4-7 record. Since the beginning of their franchises’ existence, the Clippers have always been cursed. Here’s why!
Back in the 70s, the Los Angeles Clippers were originally known as the Buffalo Braves. After two bad seasons, Buffalo made the playoffs for three consecutive seasons and their best player center Bob McAdoo won the scoring title in those three years. McAdoo was named the 1974-1975 MVP. Come playoff time, this team always fell short, losing to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in 1974 and 1976 or the Washington Bullets in 1975. By 1978 this team traded away all its star players and requested to move to San Diego.
From 1977-1991 this team would not see the playoffs. The Clippers made the playoffs three times during the '90s in 92, 93, and 97 but never could make it out of the first round. Los Angeles wouldn’t see the playoff again until 2006. They won their first playoff series since moving to California in 1978 after defeating the third-seeded Denver Nuggets in five games. During the ‘06 Western Conference Semifinals, the Clippers fought hard but were ultimately defeated in seven games by the Phoenix Suns.
The creation of Lob-City was intended for the Clippers to be a fun, entertaining basketball team, yet have the potential to win it all. Lob-City’s six-year run ended with the team being eliminated from the playoffs three times during the first round, and three times during the Western Conference Semifinals. In the 2015 playoffs, Los Angeles held a 3-1 series lead over the Houston Rockets, and by game seven, the Clippers choked their chances away.
A few years later, the Clippers signed two-time NBA champion Kawhi Leonard and traded for Paul George to serve as Leonard’s co-star. During the 2020 NBA playoffs, the Clippers had a 3-1 lead over the Denver Nuggets and blew it, that being the second time in franchise history Los Angeles has blown a 3-1 lead in the playoffs. Despite losing Kawhi Leonard to injury, the Clippers made their first Western Conference Finals appearance but lost to the Phoenix Suns. Last season they traded for 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook, to relieve the pressure off of Leonard and George. The Clippers were eliminated in the first round by the Suns. On Halloween, the 76ers agreed to send James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers. Since his arrival, the team has gone 1-5. To make things work with his former teammate, Russell Westbrook is requesting to come off the Clippers bench. This gives Harden the reigns to take more shots and still be a number one if not number two scoring option while being an efficient assist maker to his other co-star players. While this could either make or break the Clippers season, they certainly have been performing under expectations. If the Clippers make the playoffs, how far can they go? Personally, the West is stacked, and with young teams like the Timberwolves, Thunder, and Rockets making a name for themselves early on it’s hard for me to see the Clippers make the playoff mold.
