Getty Images Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue talks with Lakers star LeBron James.
The Los Angeles Clippers are on their way to the Western Conference Finals after knocking off the Utah Jazz and head coach Tyronn Lue thinks Lakers fans should shift their loyalty — at least for now.
The Lakers were bounced in the first round by the Phoenix Suns, which will be the Clippers’ opponent in the Western Conference Finals. Thanks to a massive 25-point second-half comeback, the Clippers won their series against the Jazz 4-2 after dropping the first two games of the series.
Lue asked LA fans after the game to trade in their purple and gold for red and blue because “it’s all one city.”
“To me, I always look at it differently. I know the Lakers are out and there’s a lot of Laker fans here,” 25-point second-half comeback. “But once the Lakers are gone, if we’re not playing the Lakers, you should be cheering for the Clippers because it’s all in one city. I can just feel the love and I’m very happy and proud of our guys.”
With the Lakers out, Tyronn Lue wants to see their fans support his Clippers.
“It’s all one city.”
Tyronn Lue Says Clippers Fans Starved For Success
It’s safe to say that Lue’s point of view is a bit utopian. The Lakers have 17 banners hanging in Staples Center and there’s no reason that the team’s fans will be jumping ship to back their hallway rival. Lue seemed to reference that while speaking to the media.
“They have been starving, starved for success. They have had a lot of good teams and just caught a lot of bad breaks. We know when Kawhi went down, probably thinking the same thing over and over again, or when [Chris Paul] got hurt or Blake [Griffin] got hurt,” said Lue, who started his NBA career as a player with the Lakers.
“Our team, I just tell you, they just don’t quit. They keep fighting and competing and I think our fans see that this year. We never gave in, never pointed a finger. Never pointed the blame on someone else. We looked in the mirror and we owned it and moved on. It was a total team effort all season long.”
Jeanie Buss: There is No Rivalry With Clippers
It’s no secret that the Clippers are the little brother in Los Angeles, even with stars like Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the roster. The Lakers franchise is worth $4.6 billion, per Forbes, while the Clippers are worth $2.75 billion. And there’s also the factor of legacy, with the Lakers carrying so much more championship pedigree.
It was just last year that Lakers president Jeanie Buss said that there was no rivalry between the two teams, despite sharing a building.
“The Clippers are one of the 29 teams that’s trying to beat us,” Buss said on the “Daddy Issues Podcast” with Joe Buck and Oliver Hudson. “They’re a competitor and I want to beat all of the other teams, including Michael Jordan’s team in Charlotte, our friends in Boston and in Milwaukee.
“You can’t build a rivalry until there is a rivalry. I mean that in terms of we’ve never played them in the playoffs. Whereas with Boston, we can go back and go, ‘Remember when this happened? Remember when that happened?’ All of our playoff experience against Boston, that’s a rivalry because you have a history. We just haven’t had a history with the Clippers in the playoffs.”
Will next year be the year where a battle for LA decides the Western Conference? We’ll see.