Inexplicable disadvantage in season schedule proves NBA's bias against Clippers

The NBA's schedule is officially out for all 30 teams, and LA Clippers fans can now begin planning which games they plan to attend with friends and family this coming season. Even better is the fact that they can look forward to doing so at a brand new, top of the line arena with Intuit Dome hosting its first ever event on Thursday.

In many ways, this coming season will be everything Clippers fans have always hoped for. They will get to go to their own arena, shop at their own team store, and cheer in a place designed to benefit fans of their team and no one else. No more sharing the arena with the Lakers, no more playing matinee games due to scheduling conflicts, and no more anticipation for Intuit Dome. It is all here and now.

But in the midst of all this excitement, a shocking surprise came along with the release of the Clippers' schedule on Thursday. Many suspected that LAC would finally get some sort of break when it came to scheduling. For years, the Clippers have had to deal with a hugely disadvantageous schedule when it comes to back-to-back games. But instead of getting less of those situations on this year's schedule, they actually got more than in years past.

The Clippers have 16 back-to-backs on their schedule

Historically, the Lakers typically earned the evening prime time matchup when the Clippers used to share Staples Center/Crypto.com Arena with them and both teams played a home game on the same day. As such, LAC would often get an early game, and this would typically make back-to-backs more strenuous if they were just getting back from a road trip the night before.

We thought for years that much of this was simply due to the Clippers being forced to share a high-demand arena with the Lakers, and the situation would likely become much better once they were able to move into their own space. But as it turns out, that may not have been the case after all.

This coming year's schedule features an incredible 16 back-to-backs for the Clippers. This is even more than they played in each of the last three seasons. In 2021-22, they played in 14 of these situations, and the last two seasons each featured 15 back-to-backs for LAC.

At this point, it is hard to paint this remarkable disadvantage as anything other than the league having bias against the Clippers. The team will finally get to play in their own arena and enjoy every benefit that comes with it, but they are still stuck with terrible scheduling that will undoubtedly have an effect on overall season performance.