Who’s town is it?

Photo of Prayitno/Flickr

The big question is, what team runs Los Angeles? The Lakers or the Clippers? On Oct. 22, the Los Angeles Lakers and The Los Angeles Clippers faced off in a blockbuster matchup. What a perfect way to kick off the season! The Clippers outscored the Lakers by ten points. The final score was 102-112.

The Lakers and Clippers were the most talked about teams this offseason; The Lakers traded for Anthony Davis in the summer for the Lakers farm in hopes for another Lakers Championship under the franchises belt. Across the street, The Clippers picked up Kawhi Leonard and Paul George this offseason, aiming to create a dynamic duo between those two phenomenal players.

Since then, The Los Angeles Lakers have really proved themselves and are the best team in the Western Conference and look like serious title favorites. Some big time sports anchors think they can beat the 2016 Golden State Warriors regular season record, they had a record of 72-9. There is still a lot to prove for this to be true, but if the Los Angeles Lakers continue to play like this then maybe we could see this happen.

The Clipper are a very defensive team and have a very defensive mindset. This team could be the best defensive team ever assembled. The funny thing is this Clipper team hasn’t even played an entire season together! It’s still too early to tell if the Clippers will be good this season or not but, this team has depth and grit to bring the first championship to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Lakers, on the other hand, have two of the top-five players on the same team, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It’s championship or die for the Lakers right now because we can’t tell when father time will catch up to LeBron’s age (34 years old.) The Lakers have new assets to fill in some of the critical roles and positions to fill in their championship aspirations.

After the Lakers first loss to the season, many people are panicking about what the outcome will be for this season. Big-time sports reporters said that It will always be a Lakers town because of the 16 championships they have one. Now the Lakers are playing god-level defense, all they need to do is convert on offense, and they are for sure favorites to win it all. It’s just a matter of everyone staying healthy. So let’s cross our fingers and hope everyone stays healthy.

LeBron James is a key factor in keeping the Los Angeles Lakers offense at a steady flow, let alone the team. If he gets injured or gets out is out of the season, it may raise some questions on if the Lakers can even contend for the NBA Championship let alone even make the playoffs. Worst case scenario, if LeBron James is out for the season Anthony Davis will run the floor and as well as the defense. If this is the case, Anthony Davis will leave Los Angeles and go and play somewhere else. He mentioned in a video he would love to go home and play for Chicago. This will leave the last couple years of LeBron James’s career hanging and having a low chance on bringing back a championship to Los Angeles Lakers and add to his amazing legacy.

For the Los Angeles Clipper, by the looks of it their team will stay assembled for years to come. Mainly because of great coaching and management, players want to play for them.

“I think both teams should be in the area, however Staples Center is quite small to house both team,” said Andrea Clemett communications major. “I heard a few years ago Laker fans were upset since the Clippers hung banners over previous Laker retired numbers and banners. At this point, maybe in the future both teams should have enough space in their stadiums to celebrate each teams successes.”

Is it time for the rise of the Clippers to take The City of Angels. Caesars Palace Betting predicts that the Clippers will win the NBA championship this 2019-2020 season. Or can the Los Angeles Lakers secure a 17th trophy tying with the Boston Celtics with the most all-time championships?

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