An Open Letter to the ’18-’19 LA Clippers

Now that the season is over, I wanted to write an open letter to my favorite LA Clippers team ever.

Dear 2018-19 LA Clippers,

This past season, you provided us Clippers fans with the most enjoyable Clips team I’ve ever witnessed. You took a situation where nobody would have blamed you for tanking and looking to the lottery, and instead you provided fans with a great basketball product.

To our rookie point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: you’re a big part of the reason we have so much hope for the future. We’ve watched you blossom from a nervous rookie to a point guard who wasn’t afraid of the defending champs in the playoffs. That’s wild, and we can’t wait to see how you continue to develop. Your feel for the game and comfort level shooting has increased by leaps and bounds since your first games.

To Landry Shamet, my favorite Clipper: you’ve formed the second half of our rookie dynamic duo in the backcourt. Your shooting reminded us of one of the all-time great Clippers shooters: J.J. Redick. You came in and quickly showed us what you were about when you hit 7 threes in the first half against the Knicks in March. You showed the ice in your veins and you gave us a glimpse of the future of the Clippers backcourt by hitting the HUGE go-ahead three in game 2 of the Warriors series.

To our rookie guards: there were only two rookies starting in the playoffs in round 1. Both played for the Los Angeles Clippers. Not only that, but the two combined in the above play, looking like ten year veterans. The future is bright for the Clippers.

To Patrick Beverley: you gave this team its heart and soul. You were never afraid of a matchup; remember demanding to guard LeBron James in a must-win for the Lakers? You never backed down from him, and you helped lead us to a crucial win.

Then come playoffs, you did the same thing with Kevin Durant. Sometimes that matchup went your way, other times it didn’t. That’s not what was so important. What mattered was that you weren’t afraid of anybody. That example is a big part of what led this team to march into Oracle Arena with zero fear and take two games off of the champs.

To the bench duo of Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell: you guys were incredible all season. It wasn’t just the numbers, though those were great on their own. It was that ESP you two developed where it seemed like you knew exactly what the other was thinking.

It was the whole bench celebrating when Lou broke the bench scoring record. It was the way Montrezl gave 150% effort on every single play.

You guys led a bench squad that not only maintained leads, but built them.

To Danilo Gallinari: you proved all the naysayers wrong this season. After the 2017-18 season, where you only played 21 games and averaged 15/5/2, many people questioned if you had a full season in you any more. You took that and sent it all the way back. You played 68 games and averaged 20/6/2.5. You were a consistent force on offense; that steady hand helped us through rough stretches many times.

Finally, to Coach Doc Rivers: you coached out of your mind this season. You left the Celtics all those years ago because you weren’t interested in a rebuild. You clearly felt the same this year, because you took us to far more wins than most thought we’d get. You reminded everybody that you’re an elite coach in the league. For my money, you’re the Coach of the Year.

To everybody else who contributed to this season, to Tobias Harris and Boban Marjanovic and Ivica Zubac and JaMychal Green and the front office: none of this was possible without everybody working together. This felt more like a family than a team, and everybody contributed to that atmosphere. Fans of other teams all have “that team.” You know, “this team reminds me of the ’84 Celtics,” or, “how does this team stack up to the 2011 Mavericks?” We have that now. In the future, we will always have the 2018-19 Clippers in our memories. For that, thank you.