The Clippers Curse: Never Ending Misfortune

The Clippers Curse: Never Ending Misfortune

[Applause] back the a if you happen to be too young or Flatout non-existent during the 2000s the Los Angeles Clippers were much like the modern day hornets and that you just kind of knew they were there and nothing else almost never in the playoffs no believable Direction never came across them online in 2K literally a placeholder franchise which was a unfortunate in their case playing across the hall from Kobe Bryant and the Lakers seriously you can turn on tape of Shaq dropping nearly 60 and 30 on him and it sounds almost identical to a home game why well I’ve done a whole video about the role Donald Sterling played or didn’t play as owner and Well yeah if you want the Deep dive on him specifically I’ll leave it linked long story short he did any number of things to essentially sabotage his organization including but not limited to being a general racist piece of garbage lowballing his players and contract negotiations allowing executive eljen Baylor to take the fall for almost any shortcomings yeah especially with clip now being a thing I could probably make a whole new video just with the contributions the Donald made to their General lack of Fortune or success from day one for this flick just know they were completely doomed as soon as he came into Power knowing so I will point out how the 2006 Clippers nearly won 50 games coming within a hair of making the Conference Finals a group of Sam Cassell ktina Moy Cory MTI Elton brand and Chris Cayman actually turned out compelling enough to earn a young Paul George’s fandom a fact I truly didn’t believe when he told me he’d grown up a Clippers fan during the Lakers Dynasty naturally this would lead you to question why a fairly young team not only didn’t make the playoffs a year later but then faded into General obscurity until their next draft hit here’s how I’d tell it the returning group didn’t do a whole lot worse than 06 they just regressed enough record-wise to be fighting for their playoff lives out west it also didn’t help matters when in February promising young guard Sean Livingston destroyed nearly every part of of his knee and what is very likely a top sports injury of all time as you can imagine his role with the unit was only due to Growing importance given Sam Cassell’s age going forward coming up to season’s end Los Angeles barely controlled its own fate then proceeded to the bed against Sacramento prompting Elton brand to call out his teammates for lack of effort funny enough this little r remember to end of year Skirmish and the standings was responsible for landing Dallas with the We Believe Warriors in round one You Know How It Ends from there 2006’s core continued decaying when bran dislocated his shoulder in December Chris came and fell to foot injuries meanwhile negotiations led to a mutual partying with casselle it was time for an official New Direction at pick seven in the 2008 draft the Clippers selected Eric Gordon to start over on the wing while much more subtly selecting DeAndre Jordan at 35 continuing to reset ktina Moy and Tim Thomas were sent packing to New York for a younger star power forward Zack Randol who of course only managed 39 games in light of a knee injury on a relatively brighter note management was was able to nap Starpoint guard Baron Davis on a 5-year deal who wasn’t far removed from helping lead the upset against Dallas in ‘ 07 though he’d only appear in 65 games not a terrible number except when you also consider Chris cayman’s magical foot injury which seemed to somehow only get worse with rest they were more or less a traveling circus of intriguing names with zero continuity or opportunity speaking of which Davis initially had eyes on La and hopes of joining forces with brand who posted a very solid career over seven seasons Dawning the blue and red only he then chose to sign with Philly over summer after all that work recruiting Davis the movie even baffled head coach Mike Dunley who claimed he was in contact with bran through free agency before being ghosted it appears he had a better deal awaiting and just didn’t want to face them he knew he was about to rig asked if he planned to exchange pleasantries with bran during the season Baron fired back quote I’ve got nothing to say to him yeah getting tricked in a signing with the laughing stock of the league had to sting would they be the laughing stock much longer on May 19th 2009 a Castaway franchise or received the word that they’d be picking first in a draft thought to contain a Magic Bullet in Blake Griffin although Sterling had a history of losing top draft picks after the first contract this one was fail proof the highflying box office Prospect would fit snug into a lineup featuring BD Eric Gordon and Chris Cayman no of course he wouldn’t during preseason Griffin Would block a shot on one end exploding for a tomahawk on the other breaking his kneecap in the process what actually no not what as we’d come to learn this sequence of events were simply perfect perfect foreshadowing for both parties I didn’t even mention he’d first injured his shoulder during summer league man riding on the wall couldn’t have been more blatant damn shame too between front Court talent and guard play the 2010 Clippers could have put something really solid together instead an anxious rookie watch from the sides as his Squad put together its 20th sub3 win season since Inception in 1970 if that caused you to do some math half of all their existence up to 2011 were below 30 win seasons in somewhat better news Blake didn’t even come close to disappointing after making his debut averaging a very loud 23 and 12 creating some diabolical highlight play simultaneously he then went on to predictably participated in the dunk contest hopping over the hood of a car in a manner I’m so confused by all these years later seriously why were we going so crazy after he cleared the hood anyways you probably guess none of the spectacles led to overall Fortune for the curs little brothers of Staples Eric Gordon who was at the beginning of a massive injury rap sheet continued to aggravate a wrist injury holding him out of a meaningful amount of games hopefully by now you understand all you need to know about Chris Cayman is he was really good when healthy and he was never healthy the skilled big was limited to 32 outings with a terrible set of feet Baron Davis who was on year three of a 5-year deal granted 43 games before being dealt to Cleveland from Mo Williams with a 2011 first rounder I’m fairly positive all you’ve really ever heard about Mo was how he was one of the scrubs responsible for LeBron’s disastrous first Cleveland then however it discounts the All-Star team he made in 09 and how good he generally was even before JM at the time he was also still only 28 and provided salary relief for an organization wanting flexibility for future endeavors so i’ agree yeting BD and a very nearby lottery pick as a 32 win operation seems crazy yet they actually knew what they were doing this time from general manager Neil OA quote the drill is as always is the player you’re getting back more valuable than the potential you could get in the draft our analysis at this point in February is that it was more valuable to get a 28-year-old All-Star point guard that we have for the next few years cap flexibility to make sure we take care of business and resign DeAndre Jordan and have flexibility to take care of Eric Gordon as well as opposed to speculating on another kid that’s 19 years old with one year of college experience and I’m not that high on the draft to begin with this year cap flexibility boy I’m not even sure how anyone who had vested interest in Los Angeles reacted to the news they’d essentially chosen to punt on a draft during Blick’s rookie year for Mo Williams especially given 2010’s huge free agency class had just passed the previous summer what could you as the NBA’s relevant franchise possibly hope to attract you wouldn’t be able to na Chris Paul cuz after a foreseeable trade Saga with his stagnant Hornets he landed right in your backyard with the same franchise who’s been scoring all the big names since forever ah except no he didn’t after the seismic deal being vetoed by the NBA who owned the Hornets they took a deal next door sending Paul in exchange for often injured Eric Gordon often injured Chris Cayman alfar ruk aminu and an unprotected 2012 first-rounder well if you’ve practically given away Kyrie iring who would have complimented a young Blake pretty nicely I guess acquiring Paul who’d compliment him perfectly was the next best thing little did they know a cursed franchise had actually recruited a cursed player these early CP3 Clipper teams are among some of my favorites in the virtual world except whatever they were capable of inside a PlayStation they also brought to real life which was a fairly predictable outcome considering an alltime floor General had been paired with two freakishly athletic bigs in December actually before Paul bips was snatched up off waivers initially putting forth how he’d retire if he ended up somewhere he didn’t want to be like here Coran Butler was in to a three-year deal after having supposed to have been a piece to put Dallas over the top and they went on to win it without him anyways DeAndre Jordan’s offer sheet in Golden state was matched Nick Young was acquired late in season via a three team deal while Kenya Martin was signed around the same time all in all Los Angeles was suddenly aligned to conceivably compete for a title on both sides of the tunnel especially during this lockout campaign where it was anybody’s guess who’d be standing by the rushed end as far as their conference San Antonio still stood strong OKC was poised to take another step in its process Kobe and Gasol were on their last try given Laker brass had literally just tried to dispose of pal then there were about four other decent to good squads to deal with ironically 2012 would have probably been the best chance for Lob City to go all the way and even then it wasn’t a good one which speaks volumes to the awaiting trials their 40 wins were the third highest Mark they’ achieved since winning 45 games in 1992 40 out of 6 66 matches during a lockout effected run obviously signaled hope as Chris Paul finished third in MVP voting looking rejuvenated by the arrangement Blake Griffin played another full season recording his second All-Star appearance and fooling everyone into believing his Rocky start concerning Health had been a mere fluke it was a well-oiled machine which now stood no chance of emerging from the West we’ll table that discussion for now though because while it’s true a team who ranked second in turnovers was never fit to deal with the dynasty they did experience much needed Triumph in Memphis a first round four five matchup landed the gr Grizz who could muster up just enough roster wise to bother almost anyone in the bracket as the name implied headed into game one Los Angeles had won exactly one playoff game in franchise history when they were trailing headed into the fourth quarter as a matter of fact there were 11 playoff wins Total to show for since moving from Buffalo in 1978 here nor there Memphis led by 24 with roughly 11 minutes remaining which is an automatic win for sure in the year 2012 then everyone I listed out earlier contributed to a massive comeback including young who caught fired to the tune of three three-pointers in the span of a minute by game’s end Rudy Gay had missed the goahead bucket allowing Lob City to officially announce themselves in a new era the full weight of a roster had been employed to author one of the greatest and most forgotten comebacks in playoff history not the only time they’d pull off such a feed even with Kuran Butler breaking a bone in his hand vinid Del Negro had gone tin deep to help squeeze by in a grueling seven game classic the kind of Series teams typically don’t recover immediately from tired and battered a group who found their first bit of Fortune ran into the San Antonio Spurs at what can only be described as the wrong time HP had his crew riding a 14 game win streak into the semis speaking of bad timing and the overarching theme of luck will no doubt continue to revisit Paul had quietly aggravated a groin injury in game five against Memphis where he could be seen sitting out the final minute and a half of the match true he was able to finish he just couldn’t hide it against the Spurs when he averaged nine points on 31% to go with five turnovers per game through the first three matches then finished with series averages of points on 36% from the field and 33% from three quote he doesn’t have that extra burst that he usually has that extra pop you can see that commented Del Negro afterward combine it with Butler’s hand and Griffin’s sore knee well you’ve basically got the recipe for repeated failure that was the Lob City era 2012 would have been their best shot in my opinion mostly due to the terrible injury luck we’d see going forward and the league around them being so hindered by the fast-paced lockout schedule if I’m right then 2013 might have been their best chance based on roster reasons into a electric bench scorer Jamal Crawford who was entering his fourth year of being mentioned in six Man of the Year talks while coming up on a decade of being a tops scoring role player in general intermt Barnes who’d come in mostly to do dirty work while strengthening the wing rotation truthfully the moves felt a bit inconsequential with as usual the existence of their counterparts Kobe and Company had set out on a mission being forced to deal with the super team era acquiring Dwight Howard and Steve Nash without having to give up Hal Gasol for the first time in history both Staple Center tenant could be fully expected to compete for a title could the Battle of La have been set up any better if they could overcome their Rivals Oklahoma San Antonio and even Denver were formidable opponents not to mention Memphis who they just barely beaten stuck around along with the upcoming Warriors who’ blip on everyone’s radar for the first time here Western Conference Hoops truly weren’t made to be survivable well the clips did as a relatively healthy campaign allowed Paul and Company to pull out nearly 60 wins still only good enough for fourth in the standings the good feelings entering the postseason remain as after April 7th Lob City head a clinched their first Pacific Division title in franchise history and B did so by completing a season sweep of the Lakers who’ Fallen completely apart they hadn’t swept their foes since the 75 season when they were the Buffalo Braves it was also the first time they’d even won the season series at all since 1993 it was very telling of the current predicament Kobe’s failed super team was headed for an unfortunate foggy future while Lob City was Rising surely capable of delivering a title during the window a window which closed in open depending on the year 2013 was one of those where the window slamed shut as after Blake managed to play 80 games he injured his ankle in first round against Memphis who was back for blood and equally as good with Griffin only able to contribute a nasty 13 points a game playing hurt Los Angeles were already on year two of injury altered runs unlike 2012 13’s roster seemed realistically capable of a run if all there try again next year I guess enter JJ reck who at age 29 would fit fantastically on a team who could only turn turn more lethal with floor spacing with much of the cast returning they’d now be under the watchful eye of coach Doc Rivers who hadn’t had his name totally tarnished in the media yet with some other minor additions and random vets there was nothing left to hold them back in 2014 except their owner even with some Nicks and dings to guys like reck the 14 Clips out did their previous total by one with 57 wins once again sitting near the top of the conference and clearly as talented as anyone they’d come up against a theory which was put to Serious test drawing the upstar Golden State Warriors in round one featuring a back court coach Mark Jackson had already anointed as the greatest shooting back court of all time just to put that into perspective it’d be similar to a coach making some alltime Claim about like Halo B Caro and France today good guys but damn you’re talking crazy anyway the tandem nearly put another early into to Lob City and so did Donald Sterling on April 25th 2014 while the Clippers had rallied back from their game one lost to take a21 lead TMZ published an article and tape where Sterling could be heard land basting his mistress over bringing black people to his games the rest is history a firestorm ignited cries from every direction demand that he be dealt with swiftly an idea had even been floated around the locker room to boycott game four as players and staff alike simply didn’t see it fit to be playing for an owner who apparently took the term literally as mentioned early Sterling stench had been all over this franchise far before he got caught weird comments to his black players the disrespectful contract offers hell he’d even been accused of racially discriminating when it came to his real estate in short it ain’t hard to understand how an owner with such a reputation helped lead such a massively unsuccessful tenure with him now being outed as an undeniable racist his reign of terror was over Adam Silver handed down a lifetime ban with millions and fines ensuring Donald would never so much as step foot in an NBA arena again time for a new owner and some more thrilling basketball after seven intense battles a rivalry was thought to have been born when Golden State had pushed Paul and Company to the absolute Brink coming within five points of eliminating them on the home front Clippers Warrior spoke to so many factors unfolding right in our faces the West remained a wild card a team with the obscurity of Golden State could whip out 50 wins and possibly even make a title run you’ll remember they gave the 13 Spurs a good run out of nowhere on the heels of upsetting Denver Chris Paul who was now on his third Clippers run and approaching his 30s was going to have to furiously defend his best point guard in the league title it was still him for the moment only Steph had now shown some serious goal and probably wasn’t going away speaking of which standings willing it would be a furious battle to the top given how San Antonio appeared to be aging out who’d pick up the torch OKC with this dynamic duo new golden kids with James Harden catch it as a now number one option a chance at influencing set topic was granted in round two where Durant and Westbrook awaited with a beautiful chance for the winner to end up in the finals I actually remember Steve Smith on NBA TV specifically choosing Heat Clippers as the upcoming matchup and all Beach finals he called it that’s cool and all only therein lay the problem with the West three straight matches concluded by six points or less including game five when La led by seven points with 49 seconds remaining a deficit probably resulting in a win 95% of the time in a tide series headed back home for a close out maybe don’t fumble they fumbled the Clippers as we’ve known them have either been injured or watch success slip from their fingertips no in between and impossible Durant 3 open the floodgates he scored again then Chris Paul turned it over apparently trying to avoid a foul not at all sure why he jumped here Westbrook took an incredibly bad shot down too where he was was allegedly fouled going for three getting free points during clutch time all again lost his handle on the game winning attempt and so were the 2014 Clippers maybe you don’t remember how controversial the out- of- bounds call involving Matt Barnes was quote everybody knows it was our ball the bottom line is that they thought it was a foul and they made up for it in my opinion let’s take away the replay let’s take away the replay system that was our ball we win the game we got robbed because of that call it’s clear everybody in the arena saw it that’s why everybody was shocked when they said Oklahoma City that was our ball whether it was a foul or not it was but they didn’t call it Rivers had reportedly been so confident it was their ball he was drawing up plays in the Huddle obviously this is no bail for team who kind of just smoked their chances as well it all speaks to a larger issue of how this group’s potential could virtually always be summed up in a What if after being closed out by six in six eyebrows were starting to raise three seasons now CP and Company created some of the most chilling highlights known to basketball Blake and DJ routinely humiliated the opposition normally as a result of a perfect Paul dime there weren’t many men who could jump with them there were however many factors ready to derail them so far injuries and fumbles had done the trick which would strike in 2015 both and some if you examine both 13 and 14 you could make an argument the Western Conference Finals at minimum had been fully attainable it’s just a tough break when even if you do stay healthy your opponent is almost always Championship Worthy from this lens you could justify roster ability from year to year where you only swapped out guys who were wased or just not totally consequential that being said losing backup point guard Eric blitzo to Phoenix in summer 2013 wound up mattering in a roundabout way creating the need for a new second stram PG Midway through January 2015 enter Austin Rivers coincidentally son of head coach Doc Rivers Austin it’s so far made for a solid Pro just not anything organizations were going out of their way for you could even argue guys and his situation get traded maybe get a shot with a couple teams before having to pull it out the mud in the g- league or just disappearing for good coach a son on the other hand was given a spot some members on the roster felt should go elsewhere say maybe to Nate Robinson who was granted a niname sample in any event Austin got the opportunity instead keep this in mind it’ll be important shortly experiencing everything in real time nobody could argue with another 56 win season earning second seed behind no not San Antonio the Golden State Warriors in a single year had gone from a decent upstart team who could conceivably contend years later to the outright favorite at Super Sonic Speed winning 67 games and marking their territory with a taste of what was to come in the shooting Revolution multiple times throughout regular season Hoops you could catch Curry effortlessly embarrassing his Rivals setting up a very clear dispute which would need to be resolved in coming months neither of these teams had so much has been to the Conference Finals in recent years who’ reach the mountain top and chrisen a new eror first actually were either of them truly as good as San Antonio who’ made two straight finals and dominated Miami’s heatles these were questions a mid-2010 West had us asking seven teams won 50 games while around four or five of them were being seriously considered as title contenders what better way to see who was really it than a first round matchup forcing you against defending Champions it was the second straight year of both CP3 and Blake getting MVP mentions DeAndre Jordan was on year two of blipping in Deo rankings here making the defensive first team and all NBA third a feat you’ve probably seen clown on but he was genely really good in 2015 with just a tiny splash of luck at long last it probably doesn’t surprise you this was the year A Cinderella Story appeared to be unfolding luck what it really started to seem Eerie to you is just how consistently Misfortune followed any Grace in Los Angeles sure Chris Paul had just emotionally willed his guys past an aging Dynasty and dethrown the Old Guard out west only to sustain a strained hamstring while doing so as would happen often through throughout his career a very routine movement derailed what was likely to be a strong title run explaining this part is always fun cuz La actually won game one in Houston San CP3 so why did him missing both away games even matter especially after going up 31 well I’ve always argued they maybe steal both games one and two with a healthy Paul look closer for a second though remember Austin Rivers discourse earlier surprise surprise he got the opportunity to prove himself with Paul injured and he didn’t do half bad either more info later as mentioned the 3-1 lead fully suggested they were ready to settle matters with golden state a perfect opportunity to get out in front of an impendent Golden Dynasty nobody saw coming I know you know the rest a 3-1 lead somehow meant absolutely nothing when they were at home practically already popping champagne that’s when Josh Smith happened Cory Brewer happened Jason Terry happened and the rest is quite literally history in the midst of opportunities they’d probably never come across again River’s crew watched a sh Series wins slowly devolve into an unnecessary game seven in Houston these events unknowingly put an end to Lob City Golden State got on with life becoming Champions merely a year after their first round slugfest with LA starting ascensions to new heights Chris Paul sham Squad could only dream of never mind the Cinderella story which appeared to be Brewing when Tim Duncan embraced his injured friend after being dethroned back to the bottom you go with multiple growing issues as you can see in present days public opinion don’t take too kindly to blatant nepotism and although you could argue arue Austin had earned his keep by now locker room Vib simply eroded by what veteran members believe to be selective treatment from Doc as a quote from ESPN Michael EES told it Hall’s relationship with Doc Rivers started to deteriorate rapidly after the Clippers acquired Austin Rivers several members of the team felt Austin acted entitled because his dad was both the coach and president of basketball operations in the view of the tenard players Austin Rivers never tried to fit in and when players tried to address the situation with him he still did not respond the way the core of the team wanted him to it led to resentment within the locker room which often played out during games one of Paul’s biggest contentions with Doc was that Paul and other players felt doc treated Austin more favorably than other players he would yell at guys for certain things during games and practices but not get on Austin in the same manner for similar transgressions I will importantly note in a 2017 tweet Rivers called BS however Zack low also chimed in quote the culture had eroded insiders complained about a lack of accountability about practices and shoot around starting late and and Austin Rivers carrying himself like an anointed Superstar regardless of how it all went down as I’ve often mentioned to you all everything in life is Optics it doesn’t really matter what happened it matters how the players felt and both Matt Barnes and Steven Jackson Who directly experienced it all more or less support Zack and Mike’s quotes their info pushes us up a bit in time to when rivers gave Rivers a three-year $35 million deal which pretty much indicated the end of their pursuance of Kevin Durant problem was older players who were also negotiating to return felt they hadn’t been prioritized also believing Austin was basically being kept around in the league by his father was it fair I find it interesting only because this was directly after he had a sizable career moment against Portland filling in for the again injured Chris Paul getting injured himself in the process while showing tons of grit you really couldn’t even argue by 2016 that he wasn’t a solid role player or only in the league due to his father still given reports I could understand where anger and resentment began in any case as mentioned earlier it was was all falling apart aside from just having fumbled the best chance they’d ever get DeAndre Jordan had made up his mind he was skipping town for Dallas well he made up his mind for a second anyways then we sat through one of the more bizarre events in free agent history rivers and his core are throwing a team meeting at DJ’s house for one last pitch in flaming matters Griffin posted an excellent troll featuring a chair in front of what appeared to be Jordan’s door jokingly holding him hostage oh it was no joke to Mark Cuban 2016 DeAndre Jordan could have made a tangible difference in Dirk’s final days to contextualize it the four-man lineup of Paul reick Griffin and Jordan had been the most efficient lineup of 2015 losing him wasn’t acceptable shortly after he apologized publicly to both Cuban and Dallas agreeing to stay in Los Angeles after a change of heart and more money than Cuban could offer no matter 2016 was basically the process of burying Lob City for good because as time passed the canyon siiz gap between them and the golden Squad continued to widen Steph was undoubtedly now a better point guard than the point guard himself when it hadn’t even been a conversation during their seven game bout just two years ago the roster basically grasping at straws with the strangest assortment of relevant names in some time all while things officially began to nose di for Blake Griffin by now he was undoubtedly a top power forward while easily being the most exciting maybe even in history Allstar every year of his career a few campaigns with some light MVP mentions yet his injury scares literally started on day one now culminating in what could be considered another Lost season on Christmas day he suffered a torn quad his second devastating lower body injury whilst being almost completely dependent on explosive athleticism as a player he and DJ spent years terrorizing opponents from above could it last so much longer adding insult to injury and I mean that he followed up the quad with a broken hand a month later apparently punching a team employee how have I never heard this yeah 35 games on the whole year which is crazy considering a 53- win record still earning fourth seed out west now we’ve come full circle to Rivers answering the call when Paul broke his hand and Blake aggravated his quad both only managed four games leaving La mostly helpless to actually Advance ending another run in utter disappointment for your scorecard at home Chris Paul injury Blake Griffin injury insane cell in OKC Chris Paul injury and insane cell against Houston landing at the apparent finale featuring a Chris Paul and Blake Griffin injury unreal in my opinion they had a realistic shot at winning three of those years now not only could they not even show up to the dances a championship window now slammed shut for good Austin River’s contract further divided all involved and Kevin Durant now dawned a Warriors jersey taking a canyon siiz Gap to outer space distances two straight finals appearances Curry was bordering on superhuman status La was routinely embarrassed by him while trying to beat him to the summit and actually played such a huge part of their come up rewind back to early in 2016’s campaign golden state was trying to continue their win streak which contrary to what Reggie Miller said live that night wound up being enough to catapult imp P Chicago’s record for a while though the clips had him looking every bit as talented and poised to in the 120 start it got out of hand to the tune of 50 to 29 it been an admirable start from the defending champs there was simply no way they could follow up on the talks concerning Chicago’s record just way too talented of a league now then Steve cerr made an adjustment you’ll notice perusing the box score bogit who was their starting center only played 20 minutes sure his play time had been spotty coming back from injury but the significance here involved would it talk Golden State about their matchup capabilities with LA there would never be a discussion again the death lineup was faster than a too big lineup could keep up with featuring almost none of the drawbacks you’d expect from essentially playing without a big all of a sudden LA’s one advantage became its final weakness forever ending any talks of a rivalry didn’t stop them from becoming punching bags like the rest of the league in general by this point it was pretty discernably over going out with a bang win up to one on the Jazz Blake Griffin was ruled out for the rest of the playoffs due to a toe injury the end here lies Lob City lasting approximately from 2012 to 2017 It produced five straight 50 win Seasons enough highlights to last a lifetime enough disappointment to last even longer with one of the League’s biggest historical events to top it all off a unit absolutely capable of a championship mirrored by the worst stretch of injuries you’d ever seen until their next era despite routinely owning the lake who just so happened to fall off once it could finally be competitive their stealing of Chris Paul would unfortunately yield no Credence what a way it would have been to stick it to their parent franchise taking their star acquisition and winning championships instead the only banners raised were the pictures of players used to cover the real ones doc thought it a good idea to create their own identity in the end their identity was only a prettier version of their past lives an embarrassing franchise doomed to fail no matter what management did on June 28th 2017 the Los Angeles Clippers sent Chris Paul of Houston for Patrick Beverly Lou Williams Sam Decker Montes harell drron helard DeAndre Liggins Kyle wilter a 2018 protected first and cash considerations the ship appeared to be steering toward a rebuild when Blake decided to stay on a 5year $173 million deal more or less agreeing to give what was left of his prime years to La he even ventured to tell his staff during the meeting quote I want my legacy to be a Clipper the fact he later went on to say his best chance to win was there led me me to believe he just wanted to be rich in Los Angeles and play basketball which is totally understandable and hilarious because after said emotional meeting the production Steve Balmer had stitched together to convince him to stay the good feelings they shipped him out 33 games into the fresh mass of deal this has never not been peculiar to me and oh boy did it certainly make Griffin salty who had notably failed to acquire a no trade clause in his deal consider how Griff had missed 16 of 49 games they were 500 and sitting comfortably at N Seed as best I can tell Clippers brass realized they weren’t going anywhere and his value probably wasn’t getting any higher they were right still insane business practice to basically tell him how he’s found a home and is so important just to instantly send him to Detroit of all places instead of I don’t know helping him with a sign and trade to somewhere else he actually wanted to be when you realize he probably signed in La for the offc court factors this detail makes it even crazier in return they took back Tobias Harris Avery Bradley ban mayanovic a first and second round draft pick you may think it all ended there except they still managed a 500 record you know well enough 42 and 40 doesn’t yield playoffs out west yet the roster remained competitive an important detail moving forward with the 12th and 13 picks of the 2018 draft Los Angeles selected both miles Bridges and Jerome Robinson immediately turning Bridges and two future second rounders into sheay gilis Alexander a slender guard out of Kentucky who could slot right into the void left by Paul DeAndre Jordan did get a move on this time leaving for Dallas as he no longer fit the timeline here picking up zubot and Shaman over the season this random assortment of role players posted almost 50 wins in 2019 for reference one less win than George and Westbrook’s Thunder Lob City crashed and burned but I’ve got to commend them for almost seamlessly transitioning from one era to the next somewhat similar to how Boston did it a couple years earlier they didn’t just go out for a good campaign however they challenged KD’s Warriors in round one during game two this placeholder unit erased a 31o deficit to win anti the series one of the most insane anomalies for a single game to date eventually it ended in six which is still an astronomically better result than anyone would have expected in a series where Lou Will was leading the charge they’d proven to be well-rounded entertaining and had assets around their young draft D more than enough for Clipper brass to work with headed for the future that’s when we randomly arose on a summer day in 2019 to learn out of absolutely nowhere these perennial historic losers had pulled a power play acquiring both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard huh okay context the Warriors had just lost both Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant on their way to losing out on a threee unofficially ending their Dynasty it came at the hands of kawh Leonard who was on a rental in Toronto after removing himself from the situation in San Antonio still no one could say for sure if he was signing permanently in a place he never wanted to be where he did want to be was La except no one also knew for certain which franchise that me the Lakers had recently and predictably lucked into Anthony Davis to pair with LeBron oh they weren’t done though barely a couple weeks after Golden State’s unofficial demise they were attempting to seize Total Control by adding quiet to the mix frush off of one of the more impressive playoff runs ever then there was Paul George who just suffered a devastating exit at the hands of Damen Lillard giving OKC an early disappointing exit as we awaited terrible news when everyone least expected it Leonard was suddenly across the hall it marked the second time in the decade LA’s little brothers had scooped in and stolen a star Prospect Clippers Lakers had been very one-sided over 8 years no championships and embarrassing outings were simply overshadowing everything stealing kawhai at a time like this was crucial the two were once again officially contending at the same time undeniably setting up what would be an epic battle for LA to acquire PG well you’ve seen Low’s graphic they’d now mortgage the future and more for Paul George and Kawhi Leonard that’s the most important detail people disingenuously leave out when spamming this photo the hall here for George was also the only way they could get Leonard signature on the dotted line as well of course it was a lot but what did you expect an MVP candidate and the current Finals MVP to cost also anybody would have done this deal in summer 2019 especially considering it allowed them to keep an overall great Supporting Cast instantly the most unexpected transaction ever catapulted a one-year rebuild project to the top more so than even the Lob City deal had once done speaking of how anyone would have done said deal George reiterated on his podcast just last week how initially the duo was set to happen in Toronto where Leonard would resign and the two would try to repeat the deal there would have cost the Champs more than they liked apparently there’s also a story where Westbrook is involved in any case the Clipper’s deal was undeniable so the rest is history painful history the NBA had gone from the Golden Era to the duo era a time period where the throne appeared to be for the taking and Power Balance far more uniform kawhai and PG represented one of the more terrifying pairings to come out of Summer two guys who as mentioned before were just exiting remarkable years the other thought became how does any body deal with them as a wing Duo Two ultra talented long players on both sides of the ball versatility would be a nightmare to deal with not to mention how the rest of the roster shaped up a high energy tweener big in mantz Herold three-time and reigning six-man of the Year Lou Will floor spreader and landre shamut Ruff Houser and Pat Bev completed by the size and strength of aita zubas amongst inspecting the lineup this graphic hit the net a current NBA meme which tells you all you need to know about what I’ll say the rest of this video as if they couldn’t continue to be set up any worse kawhai filmed a shoe commercial which claimed La was his town a not so subtle slight of LeBron who’d made the splash to Hollywood a year earlier though he was reigning Finals MVP with a run potent enough to have him in best player convos so there wasn’t much anyone could say for a while ah yeah it was actually a while till Paul George could play right out the gates he missed 11 games due to dual shoulder surgery he took on over summer meaning we wouldn’t see a full strength outing battle for La part one newly sworn in enemies linked up for what was meant to be just one of many upcoming Wars ultimately expected to culminate in an epic postseason Clash where a crowd would be hilariously confusing to listen to it almost sounded too good to be true it was when they met again on Christmas a slower start from georg’s absence granted a 23 and 10 record while Braun and AD sat at 24-7 it was a Hardwood Classic everything we’d expected since news had broken there were two superpower duels coming to La going down to the wire Patrick Beverly managed a narrow stop on LeBron immediately fueling further conflict and it was hilarious because Bev was merely a role player agitator and you still could trace his preparedness back to Summer League when he barely wanted to look at Braun upon greeting him these small moments where he could get the best of a more talented player fueled him so here he was nearly halfway through 2020 which looked entirely liable to end in a title then it just ended altogether the time LeBron James wrecked both Giannis and his tunnel counterpart so close together stands out as the most random regular season Affairs that still bounce around in my head it was early March when the 48 and 13 Lakers were at a fake away game against their now 42 and 20 Rivals which was again overly thrilling with playoff basketball creeping up James bared inside for an an1 late letting out a primal scream signaling he just capped off a possible turning point in the season with only about a month left up to now Yannis was pretty safely repeating as MVP and media began working over time to reverse those narratives after LeBron conquered two contenders he’d surely have to face in a few months soon enough we’d be treated to this Western Conference Finals with with the winner earning a finals trip Stakes simply couldn’t have been higher both teams played one more game afterwards as the world went dark NBA basketball was suspended at season stoppage five games separated these juggernauts with the season series being 2-1 Clippers way you’ll notice I’ve mostly skipped over the bubble portion of videos from most teams and I’m detouring here because I’m not sure Disney Hoops devastated any unit more than it did the Clips when it all returned the first game was a rematch played on July 30th similarly to the previous Wars it came down to a single shot resulting in James getting another epic career clip shutting down both kawhai and PG to close it out very symbolic here was the king in the midst of a likely title run locking up the two stars who landed in his building for a challenge ins tied the season series serving as the final time they’d meet before a potential Conference Finals there would be no Conference Finals for one of them anyways in just one of many flameouts the ship would crash and burn this time of really no Misfortune but their own okay and maybe the bubble after escaping Luca’s wrath in round one a semi-finals with Denver was going as expected La gaining a 3-1 lead headed toward what everyone had been expecting for around a year now then Denver ran off one game and another leading to a game seven with no crowd influence what ensued is probably the worst collapse in NBA history well actually that might have been game five when the clips LED for 40 minutes and 17 seconds of game time still managing to lose with a third round grudge match against the Lakers waiting on the table in what world would a team team as talented as the Clippers as expected as the Clippers featuring the finals MVP and another Superstar lose three straight games with so much at stake in the covid world I maintain this many years later there’s just no way Denver pulls it off in a real setting not taking away from what they’d accomplished later but those two teams in this specific season you’re asking me to believe they come back down 3-1 twice in a row with crowds and travel involved I’ll never choose to believe it and a lot of the members don’t either they just take it a step further than I would even beating Denver wouldn’t have guaranteed so much as a finals birth yet the players maintain they win the whole thing in the real world quote I think we win the championship if Co doesn’t happen said L Williams last year it was a struggle to get us to the bubble to begin with we didn’t even want to go so I think just mentally we came into it without the right mindset to finish the job we didn’t even want to be there he continues I think I was in the bubble 97 days was how long I was there and I think about day 67 I was like let’s get the out of here so I think mentally we wasn’t in it for the long game we didn’t really see the pot of gold at the end of it we were starting to hear the Rumblings like ah nobody’s going to respect this chip and all that so I think we kind of just took our foot off the gas okay so walk with me they are the wrong Messengers Marcus Morris Lou PG nobody should be doing meteor rounds and especially not multiple claiming a title they got second rounded for however you’ll also recall the stoppage which took place amongst the unjust murder of Jacob Blake both La squads were reportedly the only two teams to vote against continuing with the clips not wanting to have been there in the first place all this to say mentally I can understand what they’re saying and very much do believe Disney got the best of them I think deep down everyone knows that title will never get full respect from the majority so to hear this played a part in them letting up is believable it just sounds like an excuse coming from a title favorite who folded George has also been on record discussing the effects quote a lot of it was just weighing on me for one I wasn’t sleeping I don’t know what it was it was probably no lie I probably went a good week and a half to two weeks of zero sleep zero sleep no lie I would lay in bed and my mind would just be racing I tried everything I tried using apps I tried therapy sleeping gummies they don’t know this you put that on top of having a bad game then you’re not sleeping then there ain’t nothing else to do there so you’re surrounded by basketball There’s No Escape there’s no Outlet we’re stuck in our rooms in the hotel all we got is our phones you get on social media oh it’s a Meme here or it’s a joke there you mix all of that on top of not sleeping I didn’t know what to do I was just lost bro it was tough here’s another lesson in everything in life is Optics and to help you understand why PG ended up getting clowned so mercilessly not long before these events he got into a public social media battle with Daman Lillard shortly after he missed free throws in a game deciding situation Dame clocked his te pretty hard too telling him to quote keep running from the grind by switching teams the comment prompting such a reaction quote and you’re getting sent home this year respect so yeah getting embarrassingly sent home and you’ve hit the side of the backboard in the process context be damned La got more more flaming than I believe I’ll ever see of course purple and gold easily handled Denver bringing home a title in year one once again as usual doing what their little brothers could not the brats had stolen multiple stars from their seniors mostly dominated them since 2013 and hadn’t even managed a Conference Finals appearance meanwhile Banner 17 was hoisted on their watch I promise you it gets worse due to the weirdness of a season featuring a four-month Hiatus most were willing to still believe kaai and PG would eventually produce greatness you couldn’t say expect ations weren’t being met right up until elimination day knowing Glory hadn’t been too far away management made some vet pickups including Ibaka and Batum snagging Rondo later along the way Doc Rivers had chosen to step down in what Steve Balmer called a quote Mutual decision relatively recent Championship winning head coach teron L took his place of a 72 Game season the duo played 52 and 54 which wasn’t the worst Mark qualifying is four seed this time with luck very much creating playoff opportunities someway through LeBron R suffered his first Serious injury after nearly 20 years instantly setting La back further than time would allow them to recover for the West appeared completely open it was such a unique year goar and Mitchell’s Jazz earned first seed at 52 wins a team closer to Dark Horse contention than actual Phoenix followed behind after adding Paul Denver stayed put and there were no other contenders if there were any year to make a run 2021 was it while matters were still being influenced somewhat by Co a rematch with Dallas almost ended everything though Luca catapulting his Squad to a 20 lead in La which in many Minds was an insurmountable lead teams lose both home games and it’s normally only reversed by injury or some other exua circumstance what’s new the Clippers were choking again for a second straight year living up to everything ever said about them we then witnessed Ka from Toronto as he shredded Dallas in game six for 45 points and the right to an elimination game in his City well definitely LeBron’s by now but yeah I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the world ready for a pack the way they were when it appeared donic had returned a year later to finish the job a first round meltdown in year two following a second round meltdown in year 1 just way too good to be true they Advanced to meet Utah who’d never fully convinced anyone of their first seed status good surely just not Elite and this much was proven even with Leonard only making four of the six matches during game four he awkwardly planted headed down Court inflicting what we eventually came to learn to be a torn ACL bruh mind you this was following up Disney basketball which settled in October meaning round two was happening in mid June a serious injury in any postseason is already a desence for the following year but knowing 2022 was right around the corner man 21 was likely the best chance their franchise will ever have for some time LeBron was already eliminated Clips had been either one or two out west regardless of what record said and even Brooklyn’s Juggernaut out east became too hampered for a run all they would have had to do was show up and not fumble instead said they deployed a pretty simple game plan to pack Utah up in six meeting none other than Chris Paul in their first ever Conference Finals appearance managing to go six with the Suns using just about everything that was left of Paul George was such a cruel tease seriously he produced something akin to his final OKC campaign now imagine it next to a fully functioning Kawai once again too good to be true in a year so weird we brush shoulders with a Sons Hawks finals Los Angeles was once again eliminated on a technicality sent back to the drawing board to hope and pray they could avoid one of two hexes they’d seen every year injuries or fumbles I mean avoiding injury wasn’t on the table given you know 2022 was already a hopeless campaign Sans Kawai however George also suffered an elbow injury limiting him to 31 games so if there had been any hope about him holding the fort for a random late kawhai return and run which was nonsensical anyways it’ been promptly dashed given there’d be no shot at a real Rhythm these mountain siiz barriers didn’t stop management from improving acquiring both Robert Covington and Norman pow late two guys who’d make a healthy lineup nearly perfect in theory um where was the health after failing to qualify for postseason play in Minnesota an injury ridle Duo was already headed to year 4 with only one healthy run to brag about and there wasn’t much bragging to be done it felt like 2021 all over again on paper you’d see a roster full of Versatility talent and now a coach who’d proven trustworthy more willing and dealing brought back Eric Gordon and Russell Westbrook two guys who used correctly could absolutely be beneficial want to take a guess on how things derail this timeing lets it fly from 17 the shot is short George Goes Down a whistle I believe a loose ball foul will be called before the basket from Dort now that looked nasty remember how well he was playing someone spent a lot of time praying on their downfall and succeeded it was late March anyone with a set of eyes could see even if he did make a return there would once again be no healthy run there once again was no healthy run it hurt particularly because of how well they performed against Phoenix’s new experiment featuring Durant who was on his third super team attempt no PG be damned kaai was on top of things and healthy enough to take game one proceeding to nearly snatched the second alongside Westbrook who nearly helped him get it done no matter headed back to LA weed seen enough even this hampered version was probably going to P off an upset after a 39-minute night kaai Leonard was ruled out of game three with a sprain knee the very same knee he injured in 21 costing him all of 22 and now sabotaging 23 three straight playoff runs had not prematurely ended due to injuries involving one or the other and now both even with Westbrook alone La hilariously remained competitive which was only a sad reminder of how well the roster had been constructed and and how it was becoming likelier by the year nothing would ever come of it on October 31st 2023 the Clippers acquired James Harden and PJ Tucker for Marcus Morris Robert Covington Nick Batum KJ Martin a 2028 unprotected first two second rounds a 29 pick Swap and an additional firstr round pick from OKC boy talk about doubling down by This Time Low’s graphic was floating around threads daily especially given sga’s advancements and how OKC were expected to be competitive starting now even if fans were ignoring how said deal also fetched Kawai both star’s lack of availability was being highlighted in the present day INF flaming matters both stars were now considerably aging with contract talks creeping up Kawai got his three-year extension in January while discussions surrounding PG’s deal became sketch almost immediately what’s taking so long you keep hearing how it’s coming and these things take time only the reports are now saying management straight up isn’t offering a number he cares to hear which is almost always a non-starter for players okay but hey how about that shiny new James Harden initial discussions became how does it work with Russ an aging vet he’d been on a journey to tone his style down and fit with the team actually trying to win which he’d done a decent job at he just had to acknowledge fit concerns if there wasn’t a ball in his hands he wasn’t providing spacing and cutting to take advantage of gaps only goes so far on a championship team out of respect it seemed Lou tried to start all four together which looked as wonky as we thought it would ultimately settling on Westbrook as six-man after he demoted himself of course A desperate experiment sat at 29 and 14 by late January having improved to look about as good as they did on paper you just never quite knew how serious to take him will all four stars be healthy by April is Harden going to sink in the playoffs why is PG randomly playing so bad haven’t we learned by now this franchise never catches breaks they caught no breaks 2024 began to wind down and like clockwork so did Kawai after managing 68 games His Highest total since the pachulia injury he randomly started missing matches and anyone who wasn’t in the Nile knew what it meant Clippers fans were saying it was just necessary precaution rest he’d be back of course he wouldn’t as round three against Dallas came to fruition the claw showed up for two pitiful games where it was so painfully obvious he had no business being out there does he have any business left on a basketball court oh he absolutely does for the time he’s able to play he’s great that time is simply limited now always every single season that time is also now up with Paul George at least predictably after failing to come to an agreement he accepted an offer in Philly to put an official end to one of the most disappointing Duos of all time no finals appearances the one time they made the Conference Finals PG was by himself a Despicable 3-1 collapse injury ridle to years very bad 5year stretch for the um La Bulls George recently detailed his negotiations saying he came down to agree on taking the same deal they gave Leonard something the Clippers were unwilling to do once they were he also wanted a no trade clause or 212 million over 4 years the deal Philly eventually put forth after feeling disrespected from the first offer it was all done just like I’ve been looking at for around 2 years now I used to bring up the Duo’s contract situation relative to how much they were getting hurt every chance I got if the video called for it today we can say the writing had been on the wall for our present timeline I guess it ain’t all bad at long last the franchise will move into its own state-of-the-art building a long overdue and much needed change to escape the Everlasting Lakers Shadow which will still exist to some capacity after locking Kawai up Harden also resigned Derek Jones Jr has joined the frey along with multiple guys who’ve been looking for a second chance still the question I have today is where can it even go from here Kawai is a 32 that I feel comfortable we can agree on calling 35 Harden would literally be 35 at season’s beginning while in no way really close to the man he once was Russ has predictably been dealt away for Chris Dunn ending what I’d call a productive tenure also step in real quick I want to show you their outgoing and incoming draft picks until the end of the decade bro they went so hard into this roster the only option was to win and since that never happened even on their best day this is what they’re left with rest in peace to Jerry West as well he helped engineer the move away from Lob City and did the absolute best job anyone could have in advising them to instantly return to contention I myself haveed lived every moment of their rise to where they are today and it’s been truly remarkable to watch between the two eras I’m unsure which was worse if I had to choose I’d go 2020s based on how often the stars were Mia regardless I’m not sure there’s anything like this in sports a curse transcending eras almost duplicating its production amongst the two groups moving forward I wouldn’t expect any more healthy runs out of kawh Leonard and the roster as it is today is not a championship team looking at the new in Dome though I think organization they’ll just be happy to have a decent product on the floor those Jumbotron t-shirt cannons ain’t paying for themselves important future factors remain unclear like how the next 3 years of Leonard’s deal will look we will be making 50 million or more each time it gives very similar Vibes to when Kevin Durant signed an extension in Brooklyn thinking he had his friends with him only to end up needing a trade soon after if something happened to harden the roster would be left to Kawai and Company which really would just be the roster itself most likely it’s been a journey and we’ll be watching for where the Clipper steers next and for a franchise who’s lost so many years to Misfortune they can only hope the new direction is finally clear of it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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The Clippers have been dealing with a curse seemingly dating back to their origin, but most familiar to us by the last…20 years?
Here I detail the misfortune from the mid 2000s, ending at present day.