The Western Conference is definitely tough this season, with a lot of talented teams trying to get to the playoffs and potentially make the Finals. There’s no doubt that the West is going to be a fight every game.
Even though the Western Conference has a lot of good teams, two teams have been touted as the potential title favorites this year. Those two teams are the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors.
However, it seems as though some people believe that the Clippers and the Warriors are not in the same class. A recent report by Ric Bucher of Fox Sports revealed the words of a Western Conference GM who said that the Golden State Warriors are not on the Clippers’ level.
“The Clippers are the team to beat,” a Western Conference GM said. “I don’t even think Golden State is in their class. The Clippers have too much depth. I admire the Warriors’ can-do attitude. But they sat everybody for two years and then won the battle of attrition. I don’t know that they’ll be able to last this time around.”
“Sat everybody” is a bit of an overstatement, but the franchise did have two years to retool and regroup. The Warriors’ championship core — Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green — was essentially missing in action for the 2019-20 season after five consecutive runs to the Finals. Thompson missed all of two seasons recovering from a torn ACL followed by a torn Achilles’ tendon. Green and Curry returned to play the bulk of the 2020-21 season, giving them a chance to mesh with new additions Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins but getting bounced in the play-in tournament still meant a second long offseason. Playing fewer than 70 games and having plenty of vacation days had to be restorative compared to their previous five seasons, when they played 100-plus games and had 10 weeks total of offseason downtime.
There is no doubt that the Los Angeles Clippers are a good team, but it is unfair to put them over the Golden State Warriors, considering the Warriors won the championship last season while the Clippers are still trying to find their groove without Kawhi Leonard. Perhaps in time, the Clippers can prove they are a better team, but it’s definitely too early for that right now.
The Los Angeles Clippers Are The Only Team That Can Beat The Warriors
The Los Angeles Clippers are definitely a team that can challenge the Golden State Warriors, though, even if they haven’t excelled in the early season. In fact, Matt Barnes previously claimed that the Clippers are the biggest threat to the Warriors during this season.
“I think the Golden State Warriors and the Clippers [are favorites for the title], you know, it would be history for the Clippers. Shout out to Ty Lue and how he’s been able to keep the train on the track, with no Kawhi all last year, PG missed a handful of games. The one thing about that team is that everybody knows their roles. Adding John Wall, to me the deepest team in the league is the Clippers, so, you gotta beat the champs, but if anyone in the Western Conference can beat the champs in the Western Finals, it could be the Clippers.”
Of course, Kawhi Leonard staying healthy will be key for the Los Angeles Clippers. Though the star has been out due to rehabbing his knee recently, perhaps he will play more consistently later on in the season.
Hopefully, we will see the Los Angeles Clippers find a way to be one of the top-tier teams in the Western Conference. They definitely have a good amount of talent on the roster, and we’ll see what they can accomplish.
