The Los Angeles NBA market features two teams, the Lakers and the Clippers. Both teams have their share of star power and have multiple max contract players/top-tier stars on the roster.
Bill Simmons of The Ringer has recently revealed an astounding fact. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers spent a combined $420 million on their rosters, including luxury tax this season, and neither ended up making the playoffs.
LA’s NBA teams spent a combined $420 million this season (including luxury tax).
Neither made the playoffs.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) April 16, 2022
There is no doubt that this has been a disappointing season for both Los Angeles teams. The Los Angeles Lakers ended up missing the play-in tournament entirely after losing some must-win games in the regular season, while the Los Angeles Clippers got eliminated after failing to win their play-in tournament games.
However, there are some solid explanations for why the Los Angeles teams underperformed. For the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard has been out all season rehabbing a knee injury, while Paul George missed a large portion of it due to an elbow injury. For the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James and Anthony Davis both missed time, and the acquisition of point guard Russell Westbrook didn’t work out as planned. While obviously there is some context behind both teams missing the playoffs, what people generally look at is results, and neither team being able to make the postseason deserves some critique.
Even though both teams have struggled this season, it is quite possible that they will be able to bounce back next year. The Clippers will likely be viewed as contenders next season, while the Los Angeles Lakers could be a dangerous team when fully healthy. Hopefully, they are both able to improve next season, and there is no doubt that it will be disappointing for fans of both franchises if their teams were to miss the playoffs once again.
