After starting the season 6-21, the Clippers have turned their season around after going 16-3

While a 22-24 record — good for 10th place in the Western Conference — may not seem impressive, it’s how the Los Angeles Clippers have gotten to this point that is.

After losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 18, the Clippers fell to 6-21 on the season, tied with the Sacramento Kings for the second-worst record in the West. Since then, though, the Clippers are resurging as they’ve gone 16-3 in their past 19 games.

During this stretch, they’ve had two victories over the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 20 and Jan. 22, and two victories over the East-leading Detroit Pistons on Dec. 28 and Jan. 10.

What a turnaround by the Clippers pic.twitter.com/yiFSkn0LWs

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 28, 2026

During this stretch, it seems forward Kawhi Leonard and guard James Harden are turning the clocks back to 2016 — when they each received MVP votes — despite being 36 and 34 years old, respectively, they’ve been leading the charge on offense. Leonard is leading the league in scoring during this stretch with 31.8 points per game, and Harden is averaging 25.4 points per game on the season, the highest he’s had since the 2019-20 season.

The Clippers’ recent performance caused one fan to literally eat his own words. Following the Clippers 103-88 victory over the Lakers on Dec. 20, Clippers fan and blogger Robert Flom tweeted that if the Clippers go 15-3 at any point in the season, he would print out his tweet and eat it.

In what was likely an unexpected turn of events for Flom, the Clippers didn’t slow down after this and entered their Jan. 25 game against the Brooklyn Nets 14-3 over their previous 17 games. This caused another fan to bring a massive printed-out copy of the tweet to the stadium, and the official Clippers X account tweeted about it as well.

Clippers last 18 games:

15 wins, 3 losses https://t.co/IpMOTLwJSU pic.twitter.com/U6cZN4Waok

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 26, 2026

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The Clippers blewout the Nets 126-89 as Leonard had 28 points, Harden had 19 points, six rebounds, and eight assists and center Ivica Zubac had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, to secure their 15-3.

Flom stayed true to his word, as the next day he printed and ate the tweet live on YouTube.

Another aspect of the Clippers’ 16-3 run is that it lessens the possibility of the Thunder picking higher in the draft. Oklahoma City acquired the Clippers 2026 first-round pick when the Thunder traded Paul George to the Clippers in July 2019. That trade also sent forward Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the Thunder — the reigning MVP and Finals MVP.

The NBA does a draft lottery where the 14 teams that don’t make the playoffs get put in a lottery to decide the order of the first 14 selections of the draft, with the worst records having a chance at the first overall pick. This means the Thunder — who won the championship last season and have the best record in the NBA at 38-10 — could add young talent to their roster with a draft pick typically reserved for teams who miss the playoffs.

The Clippers’ recent run, though, is lowering this possibility. When Los Angeles was 6-21, the Thunder would have had between a 10.5-14% chance for the first overall pick and a 42.1-52.1% at a pick in the top four. Now, they have a 2% at the first overall pick and 9.4% at a pick in the top four.

The Clippers’ next game is Jan. 30 against the Denver Nuggets at the Ball Arena in Denver.