What a great season it has been for Clipper Nation and an even better path lies ahead for the LA Clippers.
Here we sit, on the precipice of Game 3 of the Rockets/Warriors second round matchup, trying to decide if we can find some skin in this series, or if we should just not invest emotionally at all. But only a week ago, for a few incredibly shining moments, the LA Clippers’ universe was believing in the impossible, canceling plans for the first week in May, improbably revising schedules. Even Ralph Lawler was making noises about changing vacation plans. My family was trying to figure out how close we could come to booking flights to Oakland for Game 7 without jinxing the outcome of Game 6.
Not since the Game 7/Round 1 win against the NBA-champion Spurs, four years ago this week, has there been this kind of hope and camaraderie in our fan base. Were those dreams ultimately just dreams? Yes. But the reality was pretty damn solid, despite the fact that we are now wincing at Curry’s distorted finger and Harden’s painfully red eyes instead of dipping into savings to travel for some road games in the second round.
The reality is that the Clippers are done playing—but just for now. Ask any Clippers fan and the universal response is that we are the winners here. This renewed optimism isn’t confined to our fan base. The Clippers have become the darlings of the sports media, the destination team, the little engine that could. The team virtually ignored for decades by its own local newspapers was the sports cover story in the Wall Street Journal. History will not remember whether the Warriors capped another predetermined season with an NBA championship. But no one who is basketball-literate will ever forget the Game 2 epic comeback, the Game 5 road win, forcing the presumptive champions to Game 6.
No one who was in the Staples Center for that Game 6 will ever forget the energy, the roar of the crowds, the virtual absence of Dubs fans in any appreciable number. One would have thought the Clippers had won…the LA fans, so famous for arriving late and leaving early, just didn’t leave, the standing ovations continuous from the two-minute mark until long after the end of the game. The Clippers have arrived. It’s real. And now is the time to be hopeful, humble, appreciative and excited about what is coming next.
Whether it’s a marquee free agent, or a return of this beloved team of fighters, the future is bright for the LA Clippers.