Ss&r: The Battle For Los Angeles Is Just Beginning

I consider that beside the point. The point is that we have better ratings despite where we are in our franchise. What gets us there is irrelevant honestly because advertisers are going to look at the bottom line. The bottom line is: the Lakers sell product. That's true for the NBA as well. As of right now I have absolutely no doubt the Clippers are out attending the Lakers, but most Laker games are "sold out" because the tickets were purchased a long time ago. Sales themselves haven't dipped all that much yet. A bad summer might change that, but with Clarkson looking good and Randle returning and a pick and some available cash... things look up again. I don't anticipate sales dipping for much longer.

If I were to guess I'd say the shine is off the apple. The Clippers were new and exciting and everyone wanted to tune in to see if the "Little Brother" could actually live up the Big Brother's shadow for once. Turns out they cant. To the avid basketball fan, their team is clearly not talented to win a Championship. To the casual fan, they're REALLY annoying to watch. There's a lot less exciting plays, a lot more b****ing, a lot more whining, and a hell of a lot more half-shady stuff. Not many people are tuning in anymore because frankly they're not very entertaining. Griffin has changed his game a bit due to injury, Paul is honestly not fun to watch, and Jordan might be the only really exciting guy out there now. Since they're not truly competitive, people aren't tuning in.

I don't disagree with this, but I think it was more of a concern a year or two ago. At this point, it's clear: the Clippers are the still pretenders. Even at their height, it's clear to see they're no Champion and the Lakers future is already starting to look brighter than the Clippers. You're right: the Clippers will eat into the LA fan base as long as the Lakers are this bad. BUT as soon as the Lakers turn it around, those fans will come running back. Why? Track record. The Lakers have proven they know how to reach the top. Those fans that jumped over to the Clippers will have no problem jumping right back. The kids who have chosen the Clippers over the Lakers will end up not being as many as we feared. If the Clippers ACTUALLY were competitive or ACTUALLY won a title, these fears would be more serious. They won't though and so they're not serious concerns yet. If the Lakers are forced to keep tanking this next season, we can revisit this but I don't think that's what will happen. In fact I think within 2-3 years the Lakers will be more competitive than the Clippers again.

You've got to give the city of Los Angeles a little more credit than that. They're spoiled off of LAKER success. They know a Championship team from a pretender. They know a bottom feeder from a playoff team. The future WAS up for grabs. Now it's the Lakers again. The Clippers have three pieces that aren't good enough to win a Championship, but are good enough to tie up their cash for the next 3-5 years. That's exactly the worst place to be. If the Lakers weren't so bad, the Clippers wouldn't look as good as they do. The reality is they're not that great. The future is already coming clear. Who holds the most intrigue over the next few years? Clarkson, Randle, Top 5 pick? Or Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan? I'm not asking who will be better in that time frame, I'm asking who will be more interesting? Obviously my biased answer is the Lakers, but objectively we already KNOW the Clippers aren't good enough to win. I'll tune in to see if the Randle kid is legit. I'll tune in to see the Lakers kids grow. I really won't tune in to watch the Clippers pretend their way to the playoffs and get bounced again. You keep saying IF they make it deep in the playoffs, but even if I'm a Clipper fan I'm not going to hold my breath on that one. What have they done now or recently or what about their future says they ever WILL make it deep in the playoffs? Nothing really.

I think the pressure is as always on the Lakers, but we've shown the ability to shine regardless. Honestly ask this question: is the city of LA really supportive of the Clippers or are they waiting for the Lakers to be competitive again? The answer is obvious: the Lakers. This city is purple and gold and despite the cult following of the Clippers, it will remain that way. Chris Paul has had a good year, but how many more are in those floppy knees of his? Griffin is already taking more jumpers than ever to save himself from the tumbling and the fouls inside. They have no bench and after they're forced to break the bank to keep DeAndre they're going to be hard-pressed to find one. They are the least liked team in the NBA both by casual fans and by actual NBA players on the outside so I'm not so sure they'll be able to find a ton of FAs ready to head over there.

This is a fad and that's all. We're the Lakers and we're already climbing the long mountain back up.