Clippers woes
No doubt, the Clippers will assess their alternatives as well. Unfortunately, they will not be without handicaps. There is the salary cap. And there is also Rivers’ middling record while wearing his front-office hat. As for the so-called curse, it is what
“We’re done,” Chris Paul matter-of-factly noted in the aftermath of the Clippers’ loss to the Jazz yesterday. He was talking about their elimination from the postseason in a Game Seven at the Staples Center, but he could well have been referring to the Core Four that have spearheaded “the other franchise” in La-La Land for the last four years. After all, he, Blake Griffin, and J.J. Redick are heading into free agency, and there is cause to think they will very seriously consider their options. For all their collective skill set, they seem to run into one obstacle after another year after year; freak turns of events or unfortunate matchups have derailed their attempts to meet expectations. Are they simply snakebitten? Or are they really, truly any good together?
To be sure, the Clippers have had ample opportunities to prove themselves despite the curve balls thrown their way. Sure, they lost Griffin to yet another injury in Game Three of this year’s first-round series, making their campaign significantly more difficult. Then again, the opposition likewise competed with a handicap; Rudy Gobert had essentially been around in just two contests due to knee and ankle issues, and been absent or ineffective in the others. Yet, they were largely disengaged in yesterday’s rubber match, going down by 16 in the middle quarters and getting no closer than eight until the final buzzer.
On paper, the Clippers have looked ready and able to take the measure of the best of the National Basketball Association. They have a supermotivator calling the shots and three All-NBA players topbilling a deep, if uneven, roster. Then again, it’s precisely because of their tremendous upside that the results have been disappointing at best. In some cases, the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. In theirs, it appears to be discounted. As to why, the answer depends on what color the lens from which their body of work is viewed.
No doubt, the Clippers will assess their alternatives as well. Unfortunately, they will not be without handicaps. There is the salary cap. And there is also Rivers’ middling record while wearing his front-office hat. As for the so-called curse, it is what it is until it’s broken. It lives to see another season. How long it hangs over their heads depends on them.