In the last 24 hours, I've watched both Los Angeles-based NBA teams battle for their playoff lives in Game 7's and have started thinking about the L.A. basketball scene. Having lived in Southern California for almost three years, I've spent some time sizing up the Clippers and the Lakers and have seen both teams play home games at the Staples Center (in addition to attending the 2011 NBA All-Star game, technically a jointly-hosted event). Unlike the Cubs / White Sox rivalry which I know basically nothing about, I'm mildly qualified to weigh the pros and cons of Lakers / Clippers fandom.
Most of the benefits of being a Lakers fan in L.A. are obvious, starting with the fact that the purple-and-gold are one of the greatest on-court NBA franchises of all time. The Lakers have won consistently since they moved to Southern California from Minneapolis, and their legacy has been built by some of the game's most recognizable stars - Kareem, Magic and Kobe are just of the few Lakers stars that require only one name. In addition to their on-court success, the Lakers resonate deeply with the city of Los Angeles; one look at the courtside seats at Staples during a Lakers game reveals dozens of A-List celebrities, and the Lake Show fits perfectly among the glitz and glamour that defines Los Angeles. At the same time, being a fan of L.A.'s premiere franchise isn't all good - game tickets are prohibitively expensive, the purple-and-gold uniforms - while classic - aren't wear-out-in-public-material, and the 2012 version is aging and headed into rebuilding mode sooner rather than later.
The Clippers, on the other hand, are one of the NBA's hottest and most exciting teams. Led by superstar tandem Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, the Clips have suddenly taken Southern California by storm and injected a sense of rivalry into the area's basketball scene. With a solid core of talented young players, the Clippers seem poised to do something they've never done in the history of the franchise - play well consistently. Additionally, being a Clippers fan allows you to be different - a fan of a blue collar franchise in a clearly white collar city. As I mentioned in picking the White Sox over the Cubs, I value the underdogs, and in L.A. the Clippers most definitely play second fiddle. Throw in the fact that, unlike the Lakers, the Clippers have some of the sweetest jerseys in the NBA (I love the red unis with the script writing almost as much as I love these Denver jerseys), and you've got a surprisingly tough call to make.
I'll take the Clippers road red over the Lakers home gold any day of the week.
In the end, though, for me it comes down to the quality of ownership. Whereas your team can change players, coaches and management, ownership is much more permanent and ultimately controls a team's destiny. Whereas Lakers ownership has always remained committed to winning, Donald Sterling is notorious for frugality, racism and sexual harrassment. While the Clippers have the makings of a high growth franchise, chances are that Sterling will do something to destroy the team's future and send the Clippers back towards mediocrity. While I'm not thrilled about picking the Lakers, as long as Sterling owns the Clippers I feel like I have to pick Kobe and Co. Now, if only we could get them some slightly less offensive uniforms, preferably with a sharp script font . . .
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