Losers no longer, Clippers continue to host NBA All-Star weekend amid season of vintage team chaos

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers’ days as the biggest underdogs in professional sports are long gone, and this NBA All-Star Weekend should have been the time to celebrate.

The team that spent its first four decades of existence as a punchline and purgatory has now had 14 consecutive winning seasons with a succession of basketball greats wearing its uniform. After decades spent playing in dingy gyms from Buffalo to San Diego to downtown Los Angeles, the Clippers now hold court in a new, luxurious, futuristic arena built by the richest owner in professional sports, Steve Ballmer.

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Yet perhaps it’s cosmically fitting that this crowning All-Star moment comes in the midst of a deeply chaotic season for the Clippers, whose new fans have gotten a taste of the bad old days of a team that once spent nearly every year mired in some sort of mess.

“We’ve been through a lot this year,” Clippers guard Kris Dunn said last week. “Our mentality throughout the year was just try to find a way. It was tough.”

The season began under the shadow of an NBA investigation into a suspicious endorsement deal for superstar Kawhi Leonard that may have been a way for the team to get around the salary cap — and which has infuriated the sport’s front offices, regardless of what the league ultimately decides. Leonard, Ballmer and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank deny all wrongdoing, but the Clippers could face sanctions if the league disagrees.

The Clippers then went on a chaotic 6-21 start in which they surprisingly kicked franchise icon Chris Paul off the team just six weeks into the 40-year-old point guard’s long-awaited farewell season.

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A couple of weeks after Paul’s banishment, coach Tyronn Lue’s Clips improbably started winning again, with James Harden and longtime center Ivica Zubac stepping up alongside Leonard to lead a 16-3 surge in the playoff race.

But then Frank blew up his roster last week, trading Harden to Cleveland and Zubac to Indiana. The moves likely improved the long-term outlook for a team that began the season with the NBA’s oldest roster, but they may have ended an era.

“As difficult as these moves are, we are extremely excited about where we are going,” Frank said. “We want to win now. We believe we will win now and we will do it by getting younger.”

The Clippers’ current streak of 14 winning seasons was virtually unthinkable just 15 years ago, when this franchise had only managed six winning seasons in 40 years. They made the playoffs 12 times and won the first three Pacific Division titles during that time.

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But the Clippers’ last five months have been dramatic enough for a decade in many clubs, and All-Star weekend will be a welcome opportunity for the team and its fans to catch their breath.

This is the first All-Star weekend hosted exclusively by the Clippers, who have shared the honor three times previously with their perennial big brothers, the 17-time champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Clippers once had to cover up Lakers banners when they both played at the former Staples Center, but they have no such problems in their new $2 billion palace that puts the Lakers’ old arena to shame.

And at least Clippers fans won’t have the bittersweet experience of watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is injured and won’t play in Inglewood. The reigning league MVP and NBA Finals MVP began his career with the Clippers in 2018, only to be traded to Oklahoma City a year later along with a staggering amount of draft picks for Paul George.

The Clippers acquired Leonard and George together that summer, but both stars struggled to stay healthy. Although they reached the Western Conference Final in 2021, the Clippers are still the oldest team in North American professional sports to never reach the championship game or title series.

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The Clippers added Harden, Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal in an attempt to push them further, but it never quite worked. There are now just two players left on the roster as of the end of the 2023-24 season: Leonard and reserve guard Jordan Miller.

Leonard has been healthy and outstanding in recent weeks, and will be the Clippers’ only All-Star in their hometown game. He said the Zubac trade “was like losing a brother,” but he understands why the moves “make sense.”

The Clippers’ fundamental turnaround actually began well before last week: They allowed George to leave in the summer of 2024 instead of locking themselves into another massive contract extension. Last summer they traded reliable scorer Norman Powell, despite his excellent play, and also refused to give Harden more guaranteed money, effectively encouraging his departure.

While the Harden and Zubac trades were painful, Frank believes they took the Clippers out of the status of second-tier contenders — good enough to win, but not good enough to win it all — and replenished their draft stock.

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What this means for Leonard is unclear, but Frank said he can see a future with the two-time NBA champion beyond this season if Leonard wants it. Leonard said he isn’t thinking beyond this season.

The entire future beyond All-Star Weekend is murky for the Clippers, between the looming investigations and roster uncertainty. But after the league marvels at the wonders of the Intuit Dome, Frank and the respected Lue will continue working to keep the good times going.

“Yes, this is where I want to be,” Lue said. “Having an owner like Mr. Ballmer, who is incredible, does so many things for me. I have confidence in everything we do, everything we decide to do. It’s a partnership. I want to be here.”

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