Lakers Hall of Fame Guard Believes City Rival Franchise Has Playoff Jinx
There are very few players in the history of the NBA who not only played the game at such a high level for a long time but also stayed involved with the organization following retirement as much as Jerry West has. Despite losing eight out of nine times in the Finals, West kept working toward his ultimate goal and played a key role in building numerous successful rosters as an executive.
Mr.Clutch had the pleasure of suiting up alongside some legendary Lakers names such as Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor and eventually became the official logo of the league. He went on to work in the front office for the Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and now has been with the Los Angeles Clippers since 2017.
Even though many were shocked at the fact that West agreed to join the organization despite being a city-rival, he made it his mission to help build them into a contender. LA had just lost Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets and were on the final legs of their Blake Griffin era. However, everything changed in the summer of 2019 when the Clippers were able to land Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Seeing that the Lakers made the blockbuster deal to welcome in Anthony Davis alongside LeBron James, the 'Battle of LA' was the hottest topic in the NBA as both squads were viewed as the two favorite in the Western Conference.
But four years later, they have yet to meet in the playoffs and both rosters (outside of their star duos) look significantly different. The Lakers were able to achieve their ultimate goal by winning the championship in the same season they acquired AD but the Clippers only made it as far as the WCF in 2021 and have consistently lost PG and Kawhi to injuries.
Clippers fans were in shambles for yet another postseason in 2023 as Russell Westbrook, who was making just $700,000, was their most productive and available option in their first round exit to the Phoenix Suns.
Jerry West hopped on a recent episode of Paul George's 'Podcast P' and addressed the stigma surrounding the bad luck of the Clippers franchise. The Hall of Fame point guard believes there is a jinx surrounding them.
"We've had two chances with the Clippers," said West. "And for some reason, the big guy in the sky didn't want us to get there. I've never seen anything in my whole life like it. Two players the caliber of you and Kawhi... can't play the whole season. It's almost like there's a jinx somewhere."
(Via Podcast P)
I will say that the NBA has been robbed of seeing what this team can accomplish at full strength and I've always wanted to experience the Battle of LA. However, you can only control what you can control and injuries are the toughest part of sports.
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