Carmelo Anthony explained how the Lob City changed how the Clippers were perceived: "Now you gotta really prepare"

Carmelo Anthony explained how the Lob City changed how the Clippers were perceived: “Now you gotta really prepare” originally appeared on Basketball Network.

While the Los Angeles Clippers remain one of the most laughed at franchises in all of sports because of years of horrible results, today, it’s one of the best-run organizations in terms of structure.

Yes, the championship is still something the Clippers haven’t been able to win.

Ever.

But, in terms of the culture, the L.A.’s smaller team has been able to win way more games than they’ve lost for more than a decade now.

And it all started with a historic Lob City era. We all know the story: David Stern rescinding the Chris Paul trade in 2011 to the Los Angeles Lakers is what enabled the Clippers to swoop in and get CP3 instead. It created a trio with him, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan that played one of the most exciting brand of basketball we’ve ever seen.

Sold out games every night

The Clippers led the league in dunks and alley-oop dunks for years. Every game was a must see game as they prided themselves on a fast-paced brand of basketball. You didn’t know what’s coming next, CP3 or Jamal Crawford breaking someone’s ankles, or Griffin and Jordan putting someone on the poster. In many ways, they were ahead of their time, playing a completely opposite way in a league that was still heavily based on half-court offenses.

This was before Steve Ballmer was the owner of the team and the franchise had to play in the Lakers’ home, then called the Staples Center. But if the Clips didn’t play the Lakers in there, you would never call it the Lakers’ home court.

Lob City got the fans rocking, but more importantly, it changed the perception others had of the franchise. Before that, for most seasons, anytime somebody faced the Clippers that night, more often than not, they would think it was a cakewalk to victory.

With Lob City’s ascension, those days were over and Carmelo Anthony knew it. He was in his prime with the New York Knicks then and he remembers that feeling of running out on the court of the Staples Center and you had to play Lob City.

“Ya’ll had the energy at L.A., too. With the Lakers being on the other side, right and to elevate it to a point where you’re like: ‘Hold up, the Clippers are in town.’ That felt good. Now you gotta really prepare for the Clippers going to L.A. It’s not like, ‘We’re playing the Lakers tonight and tomorrow we got the Clippers at four, let’s hurry it up and get back home.’ That wasn’t the energy no more. They had it rocking out there,” Carmelo said to Griffin when he was a guest on Anthony’s podcast earlier this year.

The Lob City era wasn’t a failure

Somehow, someway, that era is still looked at as a failure, according to the overall popular opinion, due to the fact that the team never won a championship. They had the talent, but in the playoffs, an epic collapse happened, or an injury to a key player derailed all the title-hopes. In fact, the Lob City Clippers never even got to the Western Conference finals, let alone the Finals.

Still, when you put things into proper context, it can’t be considered a failure.

For years, the Clippers were the most irrelevant franchise in all of sports. The laughing stock of the NBA. CP3’s arrival changed that, not just for that era, but for the whole future of the franchise.

Lob City Clippers lasted from 2011 until 2017 when Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets. Still, ever since 2010, the Clippers didn’t have a losing season.

Also, who knows if Steve Ballmer would buy the team from Donald Sterling if he weren’t mesmerized by the brand of basketball the team was showing? Intuit Dome might’ve never happened and the franchise would never have become a preferred destination of superstar free agents like it did.

Lob City established that foundation. Now, were the mistakes made that stopped that team from winning a title? Sure. Even bigger mistakes were made during the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era, too.

Still, there were far more positives than negatives, even though the social media trolls would tell you otherwise.

The Clippers earned the respect of every person in the league and that’s something they never had before 2011.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 30, 2025, where it first appeared.

Carmelo Anthony explained how the Lob City changed how the Clippers were perceived: “Now you gotta really prepare”

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