The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat on Sunday night to claim the franchise’s 17th championship. Despite a hard-fought playoff run and a tumultuous, emotionally-taxing season, LeBron James and Co. overcame the odds to take home the biggest prize in the sport.
After the fact, the Lakers continued their time-honored tradition of mocking the Los Angeles Clippers over the severe success disparity between the two organizations.
“While some of our so-called rivals spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars trying to win media cycles, we kept our heads down and focused on basketball, because the only thing we’ve ever cared about winning is championships,” one Lakers executive told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
This isn’t the first time that members of the Lakers went after their crosstown rivals.
Following the Clippers’ second round collapse at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, Kyle Kuzma publicly stated that his team devotes very little mental capital to LA’s other basketball team.
Not ideal. https://t.co/VEQ6PZVKn7
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 13, 2020
“We’re not focused on the Clippers, and we never really were,” he said.
The insinuation there is clear – the Clippers worry about competing with the Lakers way more than the Lakers ever worry about competing with the Clippers.
Kuzma wasn’t alone, though.
JR Smith had a similar reaction when Denver ultimately came back from a 3-1 deficit.
soooo
— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) September 16, 2020
As did Jared Dudley.
😂😂😂😂😂
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) September 16, 2020
Even former Lakers got in on the fun, led by Magic Johnson.
The Clippers choked again. 🤦🏾♂️ They choked against Houston in 2015 and they choked tonight against the Denver Nuggets.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) September 16, 2020
While the Lakers obviously did their best to drown out the noise of how the Clippers were hot on their tail, clearly it still bothered them to some degree.
Between the Clippers landing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, their signing of free agents that the Lakers had their sights on, and team owner Steve Ballmer’s constant talk of how the Clippers were coming for the LA crown, evidently people within the Lakers organization got a bit salty.
Now that they don’t have to worry about providing anyone with bulletin board material, it’s all coming out.
Probably not the reaction the Lakers were expecting. https://t.co/MO9HgHizSo
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 12, 2020
Heading into 2021, it will be interesting to see how both organizations respond to the events of this year. Currently, odds makers list the Lakers as the favorites to claim next season’s title at +380, but the Clippers are right behind them at +460.
The Clippers were besieged by bad leadership and internal strife for much of their 2020 campaign, so it will be fascinating to see if their new head coach, whoever that ends up being, will be able to fix that.
Magic knows what’s up. https://t.co/dHlPKXiAuE
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 12, 2020
If he ultimately does, then obviously this group is a legitimate threat to win the championship next year. Between Leonard and George, the Clippers have more than enough weapons in place to be successful. It is just a matter of putting all the pieces together correctly.
All that being said, for now the Clippers have to live with present day reality. In the present day, the Lakers are the champions – and they can say whatever they want about whoever they want because they delivered when it mattered most.
Related: Dodgers Firing Dave Roberts After Embarrassing Loss?
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
