The LA Clippers’ “insecurity problem” on the Lakers pushed them toward the Kawhi Leonard salary cap scandal, ultimately leading to one of the harshest punishments in NBA history.
The LA Clippers’ desperation to surpass their city rivals ended in the Kawhi Leonard scandal and a historic NBA punishment.
Position
SF, SG
Age
35
Height
198 cm
Weight
102 kg
Birth place
Riverside, United States of America
Longtime Clippers reporter Joey Linn believes LA’s “insecurity problem” surrounding the Lakers helps explain the decisions that ultimately led to the consequences of their controversial actions.
“This is an organization that, whether they want to admit it or not, have operated as if they are trying to get out of the Lakers’ shadow and look no further than right after they acquired Kawhi Leonard and they ran this ‘L.A. Our Way’ campaign across the city of Los Angeles, basically trying to establish themselves as their own team in L.A. and kind of branding themselves that way,” he said on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
“But it’s a lot deeper than that.”
Insecurity led Clippers to a doomed future
The Los Angeles Lakers are the most decorated and iconic team in the NBA, highlighted by their 17 NBA championships and relevance across multiple eras in basketball.
The Clippers, however, have little to no success to show for themselves. The franchise has yet to win an NBA title since its founding in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves, and only made its first-ever Conference Finals back in 2021.
During the 2019 offseason, the Lakers added Anthony Davis alongside LeBron James. Worried about being overshadowed, the Clippers traded future MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a massive package to the OKC Thunder for Paul George before going all in and committing salary cap violations to sign Kawhi Leonard.
The rest was simply history. While the Lakers managed to win a title in the 2019-20 season, the Clippers failed to do so on their own. The Leonard chapter ultimately left the franchise with a doomed future, having no first-round picks to use until 2034.
Clippers pay heavy price for desperately pursuing the Lakers
For years under Steve Ballmer, the LA Clippers have aggressively sought measures to make it to the top. But their immense desire to outlast the Lakers has eventually led them to this brutal point.
Ballmer’s suspension, Leonard set to be traded to Toronto, and the loss of first-round picks from 2029 to 2023 have left the Clippers paying a heavy price.
“Some of the things that go on, some of the tactics that are used to control the narrative on the Clippers side of things, at least in the way that they’re carried out, aren’t exactly typical of what you would see from a professional sports organization,” Linn added. “And that’s just where it does seem like an insecurity problem.”
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