At this point, everyone seems convinced that the Clippers intentionally tanked their final two games of the season. The motive? To slide down to the fourth seed in an attempt to avoid playing the Lakers.
It’s merely speculation at this point, but it hasn’t stopped the community from casting judgment on the team.
Stephen A. Smith is one of the most recent critics and recently called them out for it on a segment of “Stephen A.’s World.”
“The Los Angeles Clippers should be ashamed of themselves. And you know it has to be something big for it to bring shame to that franchise, an organization that has never made it to a Conference Finals in 50 years.
They went out and lost on purpose to the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, two of the sorriest teams in the NBA this past season. Dropped both games, sat Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
They want to get out of playing LeBron and the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Losing on purpose to avoid the Lakers? Losing on purpose to avoid the team we were told they were going to take out last year? That doesn’t sound like a Champion to me.”
Considering how confident the Clippers have been since the arrival of Kawhi and PG, this isn’t exactly the best look for them, especially considering what happened a year ago. At the very least, it isn’t the type of behavior you’d expect from a Championship team.
It seems that, with every passing season, the Clippers find new ways to make themselves unlikeable.
If they don’t win the title this year, or somehow get bounced early again, the sound of critics and haters will never cease.
