Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers have found it difficult over the years to attract even a tiny corner of the spotlight dominated by their much more glamorous and successful city rivals, the Lakers. The task was always an uphill battle, given that the Clippers began life in the NBA as the Buffalo Braves before relocating to San Diego in 1978, where they were renamed the Clippers, and then to Los Angeles amidst scandal and controversy. The Clippers became something of a running joke over the next three decades, appearing in the playoffs just four times and progressing past the First Round just once. Starting in 2011, the team finally saw some improvement with the arrival of Chris Paul to play alongside Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, a combination that earned the team the nickname “Lob City” due to their love of alley-oops. The Clippers qualified for the playoffs in the next six straight seasons, winning two First Round matchups. Despite the dissolution of Lob City in 2017 and departure of its three stars, the Clippers have maintained some of this momentum, featuring regularly in the playoffs and even reaching the franchise’s first Western Conference Finals in 2021. The team lost in six to the Phoenix Suns, denying them their much-awaited first NBA Finals, but with James Harden on their team, long-suffering Los Angeles Clippers fans remain hopeful that 2023-24 could be the season where the laughingstock finally has the last laugh on its gilded local rivals.