Right now the Clippers are living in the moment, but moments are fleeting. A quick glance into the rafters at Staples Center will surely snap you back to reality.
16 NBA championship banners hang there, and each one of them belongs to the Lakers.
Los Angeles is a professional-basketball town, but that designation is due solely to the Lakers, and it's doubtful that any true Lakers fan will be swayed by a couple of seasons of Clippers success.
The Clippers do currently hold bragging rights based on their season sweep of the Lakers last year and the potential to add to that streak in 2013-14. But does that really mean anything if their season ends short of an NBA title?
Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Doc Rivers are a formidable trio, and the Clippers defense should be improved with Rivers at the helm. But will they be better than San Antonio, Oklahoma City or the Memphis Grizzlies, who eliminated them last year?
Will they really even be that much better than the Lakers?
The Lakers lost Dwight Howard to the Houston Rockets, but they added size and decent talent by signing Chris Kaman, and they got younger and more athletic with the additions of Nick Young and Wesley Johnson.
All of a sudden, it's not to hard imagining Mike D'Antoni's offense being effective with Pau Gasol as the centerpiece, and if Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant are relatively healthy, the Lakers could be much better than advertised.
Even a fair-weather Lakers fan will root for a competitive team, and this team will compete.
And besides, when does a couple of good seasons erase a history's worth of misery?
The Clippers may be a better team next season, but they en...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
