One Lakers sideline reporter stirred the pot in the battle of Los Angeles and we’re more than a month away from the return of the league. Mike Trudell fueled the rivalry with some recent comments where he compared players from both teams, favoring the Lakers, of course. This has sparked something inside the Clippers, who are ready to take on the Lakers when the league resumes.
Joining the Strictly Buckets Podcast, Trudell talked about Alex Caruso, one of the most popular players on the Lakers roster despite not being a huge star overall. Well, Trudell considers Caruso a better player than Lou Williams, one of the most important pieces in the Clippers and one of the best sixth men in the history of the game.
“I think [Alex] Caruso is better than Lou Williams, just straight up. Most people are not going to accept that argument, but he is a ton better defensively, like where it’s not even close, and Lou, for him to be effective offensively, he has to have the ball running screen roll the whole time, which means that Paul George and Kawhi [Leonard] don’t have the ball… I genuinely think a lot of coaches might secretly recognize that,” Trudell said.
Of course, this didn’t sit well with Williams, who took that as the motivation he needed to make his mind about whether or not he’d be playing in Orlando next month. Lou Will sent a short but clear message to Trudell, letting him know that he should’ve never said those words.
“@MikeTrudell thanx. I needed that ,” he wrote on Twitter.
@MikeTrudell thanx. I needed that 😎
— Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) June 19, 2020
The battle of Los Angeles was one of the biggest stories this season and these teams are doing everything to raise the expectations about their potential matchup in the playoffs. Plenty of people believe the new NBA champion will come out of Los Angeles, so it remains to be seen if it’s going to be the Lakers or the Clippers.
