Throughout the years, it has been apparent that Los Angeles is Lakers town. While the Clippers exist within Los Angeles, most of the basketball fans in the city support the purple and gold. The Lakers and Clippers even play in the same arena, although at this point, it’s clear that Staples Center favors the Lakers. In fact, the Clippers are looking to move to another arena as a result of this pro-Lakers bias. No matter what they do, the Lakers will always rule Staples Center, and it’s a fact of life that the Clippers will have to live with until they move.
A great example of this bias occurred on Wednesday night as the Clippers lost to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round series. The Mavs went up 3-2 in the series thanks to the win and as it turns out, Staples Center employees were taunting the Clippers as a result. ClutchPoints reporter Tomer Azarly says one employee even told him to ask Kawhi why the Clippers ducked the Lakers in the first round.
Clearly, the Staples Center employees are hoping for an early exit from the Clippers, all while they hope the opposite for their Lakers, who will be in Staples on Thursday night. The Lakers are also down 3-2 in their first-round series, and a loss against the Suns would end their season.
Needless to say, some extremely high-stakes games are being played in Los Angeles right now.
