Paul George on the Clippers-Lakers Rivalry: "There's a mutual respect"

Paul George suggested there's no bad blood between the Clippers and Lakers

There's no denying that the Clippers-Lakers rivalry is the hot topic of the 2019-20 NBA season. Every basketball fan wants to watch the series happen in the playoffs. We've seen tense moments between Patrick Beverley and Lebron James, and it has all the moments of an iconic series.

Despite some of these heated moments, Paul George suggested there's nothing but mutual respect between the two teams.

"I think there's a mutual respect for us sharing LA," George said to Adrian Wojnarowski.

That respect comes from the fact that both teams have a legitimate chance to contend for an NBA title. It's an idea that Doc Rivers has echoed throughout the years. The rivalry isn't because the two teams hate each other, it's because each one stands in the other's way. 

"You have two L.A. teams that can potentially win it all, and I think we both respect that," George said. "I think the Lakers respect that, and we as Clippers respect that, that they are a team that we're possibly going to have to go through to win a championship."

George considers L.A having two championship teams a "beautiful" thing. While there was a short window of both the Clippers and Lakers having good teams in 2013, George believes neither team has as good of a chance as they do now.

No one truly knows how a Clippers-Lakers series is going to go down - both teams are so equally matched, and so talented. What is known though, is both teams will consider their seasons a disappointment if they're eliminated before that iconic moment.