Growing up in Los Angeles, it would be hard to say that the Clippers and the Lakers really had a rivalry. The Lakers were one of the preeminent franchises in all of the NBA while the Clippers had to deal with the indignity of Donald Sterling. Among non-diehard fans, it wasn’t all that uncommon to root for both teams except for when they played each other.
Those niceties are long gone. Ever since David Stern’s veto sent Chris Paul to the Clippers instead of the Lakers, the Clippers were no longer the lovable losers to the Lakers behemoth.