Coming into the 2019-20 season, the L.A. Clippers were among the early favorites to win the title — and it was for good reason. From their bench to their stars, to their coaches, the team has the greatest assembly of talent in the NBA and it’s quite reasonable to expect nothing less than a Championship.
Unfortunately, things have proved rather challenging for L.A. In the first round, they failed to slow down Luka Doncic, who, almost single-handedly, beat them twice in the 6-game series.
In the current round against Denver, the Clippers were up 3-1 before their competition pulled off two straight comeback victories to tie the series at 3-3 and force a Game 7.
Facing potential elimination, the Clippers have more on the line than just their reputations. According to Brian Windhorst, the makeup of their roster could be in jeopardy if things don’t go their way on Tuesday.
“If the Clippers lose the series, there is going to be a lot of fallout… it would be a historic disappointment… Kawhi and Paul George have 1 year left on their contracts… that’s going to be a part of the fallout”
It’s worth noting that the Clippers gave up six draft picks to trade for Paul George (which was necessary to bring in Kawhi). If both stars elect to leave in free agency, it could spell absolute disaster for the franchise.
Of course, right now, all the Clippers are worried about is what’s right in front of them — Game 7. If they win Game 7, and then go on to beat the Lakers in the Conference Finals, all this chatter dies down.
But, until they do, the community will continue to question what lies ahead for the team if failure becomes their reality.
