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Los Angeles Clippers: The End Of An Era, And A Really Cool Nickname

By Michael Saenz

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The Los Angeles Clippers are going through the end of an era with the extended loss of Blake Griffin

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In the end, after their last four years of relevance, the Los Angeles Clippers might only be remembered for a really cool nickname. Even then, they somehow managed to botch that.

Four years, 173 regular season wins (and counting), two playoff series wins and even the addition of a hall of fame coach (Doc Rivers), and still the Clippers found a way to fall short of expectations. Lob City, as we knew it, or whatever you want to call this era for the Clippers, could very well be over.

Their potential knockout punch was an injury to the player that jumpstarted this era, who ironically was labeled as injury-prone coming out of college.

Blake Griffin is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a staph infection in his elbow, which is presumed to be the final straw that will likely break the Clippers’ back this season.

For a team, even a franchise, that was already struggling to get passed a ceiling that peaked in the second round of the playoffs, an injury to their second-best player, depending on who you ask, was the dagger to their season and, potentially, their championship window.

Hypothetically, even if Griffin does come back in four weeks (the short-end of the his projected timetable) I don’t believe that there will be many people lining up to pick this team in a seven game NBA playoff series.

Summer Changes

Although, it isn’t just the injury to Griffin that indicates this could be the last incarnation of these Clippers that we see. Simply looking at their books after this season, you can tell that next year’s version of the Los Angeles Clippers might look nothing like they do today.

Both DeAndre Jordan and Jamal Crawford could be sporting new uniforms next season. Jordan is an unrestricted free agent after this year, while Crawford has a team option for next season that could easily be declined.

While I’m sure the Clippers would be more than willing to bring back Jordan in the offseason, nothing is for sure when you’re dealing with free agency in the NBA. Jordan averages 10 points and 13 rebounds per game for the Clippers. Question is: do you pay him like a max player based off of his rebounding and defensive prowess? That’s the question that the Clippers are going to have to answer this offseason, because you just know some team is going to offer him the max. You can take that to the bank.

The Clippers can say all the right things regarding Jordan’s upcoming free agency, and how much they value him, but until they put the right dollar amount while drawing up a new contract nothing that is said can be taken too seriously.

Just to show what his market might be in the offseason, Jordan is making 11-plus million dollars this season with the Clippers – and he’ll be looking for a raise.

Thus, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to believe that this really might be Jordan’s last year in Los Angeles.

The Proof Is In The Defense

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Back to this season, you can read the tealeaves in the Los Angeles Clippers’ demise in the stats. The defensive ones, to be exact.

In their last four years (two under Vinny Del Negro and two under Doc Rivers), the Clippers haven’t had a worst ranked defense than they do right now. And you know what happens when you don’t play defense in the NBA.

Going in chronological order, back in 2011-12, the Clippers had the 11th ranked defense, allowing 102.9 points per 100 possessions. In their next and final year under Del Negro, the Clippers finished with the 9th ranked defense, giving up only 101 points per 100 possessions.

Then came the transition to Rivers. In his first year as the Clippers’ head coach (last season), Los Angeles had the NBA’s 7th ranked defense (102.1 points per 100 possessions).

That’s a pretty nice trend, and arc, when it comes to team defense. However, it kind of took a dive this season. A significant one.

This year, the Clippers rank 20th in defensive rating (allowing 104.6 points per 100 possessions).

Uhh, that’s usually not something you can simply “rebound” from in one season.

The team clearly took a step back. In the NBA, when you can’t play defense, you don’t win championships. That’s the way it is in the Association, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise anyone why the Clippers are struggling this season. Sure, their bench is horrible, but even if they did win 60 wins this season riding their superb offense, their inability to defend would ultimately be its downfall in the playoffs.

The Spinoff

Like many eras in the NBA, whether accomplishments were met or not, endings are usually never pretty. That’s exactly what we’re seeing in Los Angeles.

While it’s not a complete closure to a book, because both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will almost definitely be back next season, there are many reasons that would indicate that this team has peaked. This core group has reached its ceiling together. It’s time to move on.

Whether you were a fan of Lob City or not, we witnessed something special in Los Angeles over the last four years, something that we had never witnessed ever. Simply put, the Clippers ran Los Angeles. They dethroned the Lakers, even if it just was momentarily.

If this was the end, I’m sure it was great while it lasted, and no matter how much they resisted, this version of the Clippers’ emergence will forever be known as the Lob City era. And if nothing else, they really did have a cool nickname.

RIP Lob City.

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