- The Lob City Clippers promised much but never got close to winning a championship
- Tyronn Lue felt Chris Paul and Blake Griffin not getting along was a big reason why
- Lue believes both men look back at that time with a feeling of what could have been
The ‘Lob City’ era for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2011-2017 promised much but ultimately ended in disappointment. Despite having Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and a fairly talented supporting cast, the team failed to even reach the Conference Finals.
Tyronn Lue was an assistant coach for the Clippers in the 2013-14 campaign and when asked why that team never got over the line, he pointed to the relationship between Paul and Griffin.
“I think the biggest thing for me, it was CP and Blake,” Lue said on the All The Smoke podcast. “Two great players and it reminded me a lot of Kobe and Shaq, two great players that really didn’t get along as best they could and you always had to step in like, ‘Man, nah, we’re gonna do it like this,’ and they would get on board.
“But they were too talented,” Lue continued. “Once you’re gifted, once you’re a max player, they be like, ‘Whose team is it?’ It’s Steve Ballmer’s team or Donald Sterling’s team. Y’all gonna make the most money you can make. You max players, get all the attention. Everybody in L.A. loves y’all, they know who you are. So, let’s just come together, and let’s win.
“And so, they were young at the time and so, I bet they look back on it right now, Blake and CP, if they look back on it now they’d be like, ‘You know what, we coulda…’ It was special, very special. Two talented players. Two great players. And that was the biggest thing. When your two best players don’t really get along and take that next step together, it’s kinda hard.”
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Paul had admitted last year that he appreciated Griffin a lot more after they had parted ways.
We have seen this happen so many times in NBA history, with the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant pairing being perhaps the best example. The two looked back after retirement and wondered what could have been had they stuck together. At least Shaq and Kobe had won three titles before it all went south, unlike Griffin and Paul, who still don’t have a championship to their name.
Doc Rivers Said Those Clippers Teams Were Never Going To Win
The Clippers had taken off following Paul’s arrival in 2011 and expectations went up even further when Doc Rivers became the head coach in 2013. The Clippers won at least 50 games in each of Rivers’ first four seasons but again, disappointed in the playoffs.
Looking back at those teams, Rivers claimed last year that they were never going to win because they didn’t get along as a group. He added that you can’t win without cooperation. Would things have been different had the stars gotten along? Perhaps, but we’ll never know for sure.
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