The end of the lockout saw every NBA team, make moves and make them fast before the season would tip-off. Thus far, the Los Angeles Lakers have been front and centre as the team was looking to acquire Dwight Howard or Chris Paul, and possibly both.
The result, as of this writing, is a vetoed trade that would land Chris Paul with the Lakers. The Los Angeles Clippers had better luck, able to get a green light on a trade that would have Paul throwing lob passes to Griffin once the season gets going. And in regards to acquiring Howard, it is reported that the Orlando Magic are not fielding additional offers.
Tough times for the Lakers, as their attempt to acquire Paul was vetoed because the current mandate, and goal of the lockout, was to have more parity in the league, and less big market dominance. Thus, a star player going to a team such as the Lakers, is viewed as the rich getting richer and nothing has changed.
Thus, the Clippers, who represent the same city, call the same arena home court, is considered a small market team. Now if the argument is that Los Angeles is a Laker town and thus the Clippers aren’t the preferred option where players want to sign, then we must reconsider the factors that define whether a team is in a big or small market.
A big market is often determined by two main factors population and media, and this is the same for the Clippers and Lakers. Thus, the difference that would make the Lakers, the main team in Los Angeles would be success on the court, and the Lakers have won recently and in the past.
The lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960 from Minneapolis, and have had a lot of success, winning eleven championships since that point. The Clippers, formerly the Buffalo Braves, moved to San Diego in 1978 and made Los Angeles home in 1984, however, have not had much success and as of date have brought no championships to Los Angeles.
Thus, what separates the clubs is tenure and winning, and in the current NBA climate the Lakers are paying a price for that success. There is no question, that if the Clippers have a strong year and make the postseason it’s a good thing for the league. However, it’s unfortunate that not all of its roster was recruited on an even playing field.
Sources:
http://www.nba.com/lakers/history/lakers_history_new.html
http://www.nba.com/clippers/history/season-recaps.html