An NBA Battle Is About To Take Place In Los Angeles
Written by BSR Web Staff on July 6, 2019
Photo Credit: bletchereport.com
Out of the bloom at 1 a.m. Saturday, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for future draft picks, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari.
Moments later, the current Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard made his decision to sign with the Clippers
The deal is for four years and a $142 million.
This shocked a lot of NBA fans who thought that Leonard would either stay in Toronto or go join LeBron James and Anthony Davis with the Lakers. I don’t know anybody who predicted that George would request a trade to the Clippers with Leonard joining him.
In my opinion, Leonard and George must have talked about teaming up in this year’s offseason, but George was still under contract with the Thunder, so the only way he could leave was if he requested to be traded.
Now, Los Angeles has four of the top 10 players in the NBA. Two are on the Lakers, and the other two are on the Clippers.
The Lakers have always been the favorite team in LA. They have won 16 NBA championships. From the showtime team in the 80’s with Magic and Kareem, to the Kobe and Shaq era in the early 2000’s to just Kobe towards the end of the decade.
Last offseason, the Lakers signed LeBron James, but the Lakers were not good enough to make the playoffs. Then, they traded half of their team for Anthony Davis right before the 2019 NBA Draft, and now they have a good chance to bring back the glory days.
The Clippers have always been the little brother to the Lakers. They have never made it to Western Conference Finals. The best era of Clippers basketball was in the early 2010’s with Lob City, that included Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. The farthest that team made it in the playoffs was the semifinals.
Now with the Clippers having Leonard and George, they have made themselves instant NBA Finals contenders.
NBA fans in Los Angeles will either choose the Lakers or Clippers to cheer for. I won’t be surprised if these teams meet up in this season’s Western Conference Finals.
