Can The Lakers-Clippers Rivalry Become The NBA’s Version Of El Clasico?
LOS ANGELES, CA – There are many great rivalries in sports such as Duke-North Carolina, Yankees-Red Sox, Lakers-Celtics and Ohio State-Michigan.
Other note-worthy rivalries such as Mexico-USA, Federer-Nadal and Cowboys-Redskins have transcended sports and into our everyday pop culture lexicon on a level all their own.
With the Lakers 96-91 heated—and physical—win over the co-tenant Clippers Thursday night, does the Lakers-Clippers rivalry join the list of all-time greats such as Notre Dame-USC?
No. Not even close.
Despite the blockbuster pickups of All-State point guard Chris Paul from New Orleans, Chauncey Billups via amnesty from the New York Knicks and Caron Butler via free agency and the superstar breakout play of All-Star power forward Blake Griffin, the Clippers have a long way to go before the can ever call themselves rivals of their 16-time NBA champion co-habitants.
Before Thursday’s tilt between the two Los Angeles teams, ESPN aired a segment comparing the Lakers-Clippers budding rivalry to the storied “El Clasico” annual clash between Spanish La Liga clubs, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.
With due respect to ESPN, but in the eyes of this long-time soccer fan—I ‘am a fan the Arsenal Gunners—they need to issue a formal apology to FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and the Los Angeles Lakers immediately.
If the Clippers are to be compared to anyone in terms of rivalry, they are the lowly nail to the Lakers Thor-like Mjonir hammer.
In terms of soccer, the Clippers would be compared to English Premier League side, Stoke City—who is England’s version of the Chicago Cubs—in terms of championship futility and incompetence, compared to the 19-time league champion and three-time UEFA Champions League winner, Manchester United.
You get the point of where I’m going with this.
The Clippers may finally have some talent to finally earn a brief glimpse of attention from the Lakers, but if the Lakers-Clippers rivalry is the NBA’s version of “El Clasico” then who is FC Barca and who is Real Madrid?
Is Kobe Bryant the Lionel Messi to Blake Griffin’s Christan Ronaldo? Is Chris Paul Kaka to Pau Gasol’s Xavi?
While the Clippers are light-years away from being considered a true rival along the lines of the Boston Celtics, the element’s are there for a unique and special form of rivalry—a Southern California derby.
Pronounced (dar-bee) by English fans, a derby is a local rivalry in soccer between two teams that are based in the same city. In the English Premier League there is the Manchester derby which features Manchester United and Manchester City, the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham and the Second City Derby between clubs Aston Villa and Birmingham City.
In North America sports, derby would translate into “a crosstown rivalry”—much like what the Giants-Jets and Raiders-49ers currently have in the NFL and MLB teams such A’s-Giants, Cubs-Sox, Yankees-Mets and Dodgers-Angels have in baseball—is exactly what the Lakers and Clippers are in the process of developing.
For the Clippers that is still a long way off as they will have to develop stability, win on a consistent basis to earn the right of calling themselves a rival of the Lakers.
Despite all of the excitement and hype that the Clippers have generated so far in the NBA season, they are nothing more than the New York Jets to the Lakers New York Giants and until the Clippers win a few championships, they will forever languish in the shadows of their more storied championship-winning purple and gold landlords in the Staples Center.
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I don’t know if the Lakers and Clippers could ever have a rivalry unless Donald Sterling sells the team. At this point I’d take the Clippers over the Lakers in terms of talent and yet in the next couple of seasons the Lakers will overtake the Clippers with talent and the Clippers again will become an after thought in Los Angeles.