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With Dwight Howard being boo'd at a recent Clipper/Rockets game, makes me wonder if LA would ever be a Clipper town. One would think a true Clipper fan would be happy that Dwight Howard left the Lakers for Houston.
My Theory is most fans attending Clipper games at Staples are really Laker fans at heart, rooting for the Clippers just to see an NBA game at a cheaper ticket price.
Should the Clippers move to another city to get their own fan base?
How do the Mets/Yankees, Knicks/nets, Jets/Giants do it?
Could legitimacy(titles) help?
Should they have stayed in San Diego?
The Lakers are a spoiled organization, they've won so much. Plus kids growing up probably rooted for the Lakers, making them Lakers fans now.
Considering they don't move, the only way to legitimize them and split the city is to be good for a long time, get a title or two or three and reach a young fan base. It will take a decade or two to do it.
With Dwight Howard being boo'd at a recent Clipper/Rockets game, makes me wonder if LA would ever be a Clipper town. One would think a true Clipper fan would be happy that Dwight Howard left the Lakers for Houston.
My Theory is most fans attending Clipper games at Staples are really Laker fans at heart, rooting for the Clippers just to see an NBA game at a cheaper ticket price.
Should the Clippers move to another city to get their own fan base?
The people that can afford the Clipper tix were the same casuals with money that had Laker tix but the Clippers are just a more interesting team now while the Lakers (like I warned people but was called a hater) are heading into a rebuild and not a quick "re-load".
So, I think you are seeing a lot of bandwagoner Clippers (former bandwagoner Laker) booing Dwight.
How do the Mets/Yankees, Knicks/nets, Jets/Giants do it?
Could legitimacy(titles) help?
Should they have stayed in San Diego?
The Lakers are a spoiled organization, they've won so much. Plus kids growing up probably rooted for the Lakers, making them Lakers fans now.
Considering they don't move, the only way to legitimize them and split the city is to be good for a long time, get a title or two or three and reach a young fan base. It will take a decade or two to do it.
Clippers won't need a title IMO if they can at least be a contender and in the playoffs the next 5+ years (which they should) and if the Lakers wind up in a long rebuild then that will help the Clippers get embedded.
I don't see the Lakers in a long rebuild, I do see them losing this year and perhaps geting a lottery pick, then if they can land Lebron and maybe Carmelo, that would end any rebuild in just one season.
The Clippers will never be the main attraction in LA, not with the Lakers hanging World Championship banners and the Clippers hanging posters of some players. I have already bet that the Lakers will win another NBA Championship before the Clippers winning a first one. Not sure when it wil happen, but it will happen.
How do the Mets/Yankees, Knicks/nets, Jets/Giants do it?
Could legitimacy(titles) help?
Should they have stayed in San Diego?
The Lakers are a spoiled organization, they've won so much. Plus kids growing up probably rooted for the Lakers, making them Lakers fans now.
Considering they don't move, the only way to legitimize them and split the city is to be good for a long time, get a title or two or three and reach a young fan base. It will take a decade or two to do it.
I don't think they would move the team out of the LA sports market but if the Clippers were able to play in their own arena than that would definitely help the franchise. Playing in the constant shadow of the Lakers would be be very difficult for any NBA franchise.
The difference between the Lakers/Clippers and the dynamic of other two-team cities in sports is geography. Most of the others have a defined or at least hazy territory where someone is more prone to be a fan of one team or the other. In LA baseball, OC is Angels' territory and the city is Dodgerland. Up north the Raiders/A's and Giants/Niners go by East & West Bay. Chicago baseball is strictly north/south. New York baseball has Mets fans more in Queens & Long Island and Yankee fans more in Manhattan/Bronx/North Jersey (not sure how football works out there).
The Lakers & Clippers play in the same arena, so they'll always fight for the same fanbase until one moves elsewhere.
The difference between the Lakers/Clippers and the dynamic of other two-team cities in sports is geography. Most of the others have a defined or at least hazy territory where someone is more prone to be a fan of one team or the other. In LA baseball, OC is Angels' territory and the city is Dodgerland. Up north the Raiders/A's and Giants/Niners go by East & West Bay. Chicago baseball is strictly north/south. New York baseball has Mets fans more in Queens & Long Island and Yankee fans more in Manhattan/Bronx/North Jersey (not sure how football works out there).
The Lakers & Clippers play in the same arena, so they'll always fight for the same fanbase until one moves elsewhere.
When the Sacramento Kings were on the verge of relocating, Orange County was considered one of the serious contenders of where the Kings could relocate to. The city of Anaheim was trying to lure an NBA franchise to the Honda Center. Since the Kings ended up staying in Northern California, wouldn't it have been a great opportunity for Orange County to try and relocate the Clippers to Anaheim?
New York baseball has Mets fans more in Queens & Long Island and Yankee fans more in Manhattan/Bronx/North Jersey (not sure how football works out there).
Most Jets fans are from Long Island, Queens, or Brooklyn. Basically, Jets areas overlap with Mets areas, although there are a lot of Giants/Mets and Jets/Yankees fans. I am one of the former. My uncle is one of the latter.
I don't know enough about LA to comment with any authority on the territorial allegiances, but if the Clippers can get a dynasty going, they'll definitely get a strong following.
When the Mets were a top team in the 1980s and the Yankees were irrelevant, the Mets were the #1 team in NYC, and that continued until the Mattingly era, where the two teams were fairly even... and then the Jeter era returned things to the natural order.
When the Sacramento Kings were on the verge of relocating, Orange County was considered one of the serious contenders of where the Kings could relocate to. The city of Anaheim was trying to lure an NBA franchise to the Honda Center. Since the Kings ended up staying in Northern California, wouldn't it have been a great opportunity for Orange County to try and relocate the Clippers to Anaheim?
That was talked about when Staples Center was bult and the Lakers left the Forum and the Clippers left the Sports Arena each for Staples Center. I think that would've been a perfect time for the Clippers to move there. Now I don't think that will ever happen. They would truly have their own fan base if they did instead of having Laker fans rooting for them when the Lakers are out of town.
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