Nicolas Batum is a veteran in the NBA and is currently one of the very important pieces of the LA Clippers. Batum joined the team in 2019 after securing a buyout of a massive contract given to him by the Charlotte Hornets and signing with the Clippers as a free agent. He has enjoyed some success with the Clippers, a team that wants to win a championship soon.
In the two post-seasons Batum has made, he has had to contend with the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. While the Clippers and Batum have won every series against Dallas in this time, the team really does push the Clippers like no other.
Batum was asked about the most embarrassing moment of his career in a Twitter Q&A with his fans, to which Batum responded with a regular season loss to the Mavericks in the 2020-21 season. It was the 3rd game of the season and the Mavs destroyed the Clippers, taking the biggest halftime lead in NBA history with 50 points and then winning the game by 51 points, the biggest loss in Clippers’ franchise history.
-50 against the Mavs after Christmas 2020🤦🏽♂️ https://t.co/C3fTylYlWk
— Nicolas Batum (@nicolas88batum) July 24, 2022
The game saw Kawhi Leonard be load-managed as the rest of the Clippers were haplessly made to watch Luka Doncic get his revenge for what happened in the 2020 Playoffs. Sadly, the Clippers would get their revenge on the Mavs in the Playoffs once again, eliminating them in a hard-fought 7-game series in the first round.
Batum played 21 minutes in the post-Christmas game against the Mavs and had 4 points and 6 rebounds in the loss. Considering the rivalry that has built up between the two teams since then, Batum must have a hard time looking back at that game.
At least Batum has been able to have much better moments against the Mavs since to wash out the feeling of that loss. Whether the Clippers and Mavs reignite their rivalry, this season with LA being back to full health with Kawhi Leonard is something that will be interesting to see through the course of the 22-23 season.
