The LA Clippers have done their due diligence to escape their age, which has hurt them, and more will be done, but it will take the cycle of another offseason to change the facts, which are that they became old and slow at exactly the same time.
As everyone has essentially heard the phrase, “you can run, but you cannot hide,” the Clippers’ best bet is to try to rewrite their destiny rather than trying to cover it up by relying on a rookie like Kobe Sanders to turn the ship around.
Sanders is a great player and deserves minutes, but maybe the Clippers could do better by scheming a plan that lets veterans thrive. Outlets to do so are present, yet one is easily accessible and effective, which Tyronn Lue may not have tried thus far.
Tyronn Lue should study what past teams centered around veterans did to succeed
If a championship is precisely what the LA Clippers are chasing, which is the clear end goal, then the entire locker room needs a changed approach. They must experience an adjustment beyond the benefits of Tyronn Lue’s renovated plays drawn on a whiteboard, and something that could help is analyzing successful, older teams that were constructed with a foundation of veterans.
As the Clippers need the film to be relatively recent, a prime example with an advantageous upside is the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers squad that went on to win the first-ever bubble championship.
Lue will need to act as a professor conducting a lecture to his players, but he must first evaluate what the Lakers did to go all the way, even if it brings tears, as the Lakers are a cross-town rival with 17 banners in their arena.
LeBron James, who led the Lakers in 2020 and won Finals MVP, was 35 at the time. This is close enough to James Harden(36) right now. Although Anthony Davis, James’ co-star, was much younger than Kawhi Leonard is currently in his career, Los Angeles’ roster was positively bolstered by guys like Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, and Danny Green, who are all out of the league or retired.
That said, if the Lakers could do it, why are the Clippers unable to? Times were different, and a replicated blueprint will not yield the same results, but they certainly have a number of plays and styles of two-way basketball that could jump-start LA out of its losing slump.