The unthinkable as they take control from Knicks, Lakers
Garnett and Paul Pierce. That team got very bad, very quickly, and Brooklyn had none of its own picks to rebuild with.
Instead, the Nets made something out of nothing, and the Clippers followed through on their vision to rebuild while staying competitive. The years of eating dirt have finally paid off. They stayed low and built a foundation. That’s what draws free agents, not a storied history. And also, it appears, not LeBron James.
While the Clippers and Nets got their affairs in order, the Knicks and Lakers fell apart. Yes, James and his agent Rich Paul pulled the strings that brought Anthony Davis to the purple and gold. But behind the scenes, the house was on fire. Magic Johnson quit his job via impromptu press conference, then went on ESPN and called current Lakers GM Rob Pelinka a backstabber. Then, somehow, Johnson reportedly was included in the free agency pitch to Kawhi Leonard, with Pelinka and team owner Jeanie Buss. How is that even possible?
And the Knicks had traded Kristaps Porzingis, who became unhappy and no longer wanted to be a part of the franchise, to create not one, but two slots for max free agents. Then ownership set the bar high, claiming they had assurances two superstars were headed to Madison Square Garden. Zero came, and to make matters worse, they went over the bridge to the other team. You hate to see it.
The NBA is in a new era where players are calling their own shots. They’re empowered to play where and with whomever they want, collecting a fat bag of money along the way. Everyone grew up a Knicks or Lakers fan. It was Madison Square Garden or the purple and gold. It was allure of playing in New York City, or of the 16 championships, or joining Magic and Kareem or Kobe in Laker history. Turning that down didn’t seem possible.
But the Clippers and Nets turned impossible into reality. They did it not by selling their city or their storied history, but by staying out of the spotlight and building a culture worth playing for. They did it with efficient ownership, which trickled down to management, which trickled down to the players on the floor. This is the ending no one saw coming, and the beginning of a new chapter of star power in basketball.
Durant will be out for a season, but Irving joins a Nets team that made the playoffs last season. Leonard and George turned the Clippers into championship contenders overnight. When Durant returns, the Clippers and Nets could legitimately be favorites to face each other in the NBA Finals. What kind of alternate reality is this?
It’s the ending the basketball world needed, where super teams are a thing of the past and teams are judged not on championships of past eras, but on the results achieved by current management. The Clippers and Nets have just stolen the spotlight from the Knicks and Lakers. What a time to be alive. Basketball has never been better.
Still, things could be worse. The Lakers still have LeBron James and Anthony Davis. That’s a championship duo if one ever existed. The Knicks lost out on Zion Williamson, but they drafted RJ Barrett and have a roster full of young players with something to prove. New York can follow the Brooklyn mold, so long as they re-instill Knicks pride.
If we’ve learned anything, though, it all starts with looking in the mirror. Are Knicks and Lakers ownership willing to do that? If not, the only thing history does, without fail, is repeat itself.