LACE EM UP Sports
Are the Clippers Cursed? Episode 1 (Podcast Version)
[CROWD CHEERING] For over 40 years, the Los Angeles Clippers have been in the shadows of their, quote, unquote, "big brother," the Los Angeles Lakers, in a city that has seen more championships than we can count. The Clippers have always been on the outside looking in. They were the laughing stock of the NBA for years. Not just years, but decades. To be a fan, a player, or even someone that has ties with the team was a rough experience. But through all the hardship, they've seemingly overcome the stain that was on the franchise for years, with annually competitive teams the last 12 years, and now have an owner that truly cares about the team's best interest. Yet, somehow, the team hasn't been able to get over the hump. It must be frustrating as hell as an LA Clippers fan to go into each season having championship expectations, but somehow fall short every season due to one thing or another. What is truly preventing the team from shedding the skin of their talented past and rewriting the narrative of constant failures? Some might say that the team is cursed? How could that be? Well, let's dive deep into this. In the early 1980s, Dr. Jerry Bus, physical chemist from USC, an eccentric owner of the Los Angeles Lakers seemed to have the world, or at least Los Angeles, at his fingertips. The Lakers were already NBA champions in his reign as owner. His investment in 1979, purchasing the Los Angeles Lakers, then it shows Los Angeles Kings and full property ownership of the LA form, were paying off dividends. Bus lived a lavish lifestyle. Success, money, women. It was everything a man could desire. That man being, of course, real estate wonder, Donald Sterling. Coincidence being that it was Sterling that helped Bus gain everything he had. For Bus to finance the deal in buying the Lakers in 1979, he needed fast cash. Bus had made a name for himself in the real estate market and was good friends with Sterling. The two arranged a deal for a trade in real estate assets. Bus getting the cash he needed to purchase the Lakers, Kings and the form, and Sterling getting Bus's apartments he owned. Thus, he and he bus the keys to his kingdom in Los Angeles. Sterling envied this. He wanted in, and in 1981, Sterling would purchase the then San Diego Clippers for $13.5 million. So on September 6, 1981, it was official. Donald Sterling bought the San Diego Clippers from then owner Harold Lipton. During Sterling's press conference, he promised to keep the team in San Diego. That, in fact, was a lie. I'm comfortable here, and I'm happy here, and I just want to stay here in San Diego. Does this mean that the team will stay here indefinitely? Absolutely. [MUSIC PLAYING] He assured everyone that he would do everything in his power to make this one of the best franchises in basketball. I prepared to do whatever is necessary to get the players we want. And of course, that was a lie. Another good friend of Sterling was then Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, who rocked the NFL world by moving his team from Oakland to Los Angeles despite not having the NFL's permission. This inspired Sterling to do the same thing. In only two seasons on the job, Sterling moved the Clippers from San Diego to Los Angeles despite not having the league's permission as well. This didn't stop Sterling, and he was eventually successful in a lawsuit from the NBA. As we said before, Donald Sterling wanted everything that Dr. Jerry Bus had. He wanted the notoriety, the women, the money, the fame. He wanted it all. But the real difference between Jerry Bus and Donald Sterling was that Jerry Bus had a vision. From 1979 to 2013, Jerry Bus' era as owner of the Lakers, the Lakers would post a win-loss regular season record of 1,806 to 807 and would compete in 16 NBA finals winning 12 NBA championships. The team would miss the playoffs only twice during this 30-year-plus era. From 1981 to 2014, Sterling's era as owner of the Clippers, the Clippers would post a win-loss regular season record of 1,027 to 1,707. What a massive difference. The team would only make the NBA playoffs a whopping four times during this stretch. In fact, it would take 10 years before Sterling would make the Clippers a playoff caliber team when purchasing the team in 1981. Even more, in fact, the Clippers would only make the playoffs one time in 2006 during a 14-year stretch from 1997 to 2011. How were Bus' Lakers so dominant during this 30-year stretch while Sterling's Clippers were so abysmal? Sure, Bus inherited a Lakers team that was led by Hall of Famer Kareem at Biljibar, but Bus had a vision to draft a young, highly talented Michigan Wolverine by the name of Irvin Magic Johnson, over pressure to draft literally any big man before him. Bus' relationship with Johnson was almost like a father's son relationship, but he was also business partners with Johnson as well. Bus had the insight to market his arena for outside parties to use. He put fans on the floor to sit next to the players to give them that experience. He marketed the cheerleaders as "Laker Girls" as dancers. He was the first to promote an NBA team on cable television for home games. Bus trusted guys like Jerry West to run the team and go after talents like Kobe Bryant and bring in Shaquille O'Neal in 1996. All the way to the day he died. If the team was forishing, then so was Jerry Bus. Donald Sterling was the exact opposite. As Dr. Bus is known as the greatest owner in team sports history, Sterling is equally known as the worst. Sterling's main priority as team owner was how far could he save a dollar in his own pocketbooks, even if it meant at the team's best interest. There are countless stories of Sterling not investing in his team the way he promised. While most NBA teams in the early 2000s had their own practice facility, the Clippers practiced at Los Angeles Southwest College, a community college. Having to share the facility with students, former player Matt Barnes said they wouldn't have showers and they would have to leave the back door open because a player got his car broken into during practice. And how about all that young talent that the Clippers had, such as Mark Jackson, Ron Harper, the young core of the Marodum, Derry Smiles, Quentin Richardson. In fact, that core is famously known in the early 2000s as the hip hop team as hip hop artists would famously wear their jerseys in music videos. That core was deep and they had serious stars such as Elton Brand and Corey McGatie. But Sterling let all those talents walk away because he didn't want to pay them the higher salaries they commanded. Even when Sterling tried to get it right, he just didn't do his homework and he ended up drafting busts like Michael Ollo Candy and no offense to Michael Ollo Candy, but you have to do your homework on a guy that chooses to play basketball at the age of 20 when most people choose to play basketball way early into their life. Sterling had to know that going in and there had to be a high chance that although Candy was going to be a bust and have should have never taken him at number one. The point is Sterling chose to be lazy. He chose greed, money, fame, women. He chose all of those things over the best interest of his team even when it was painfully obvious to everyone else. You [BLANK_AUDIO]