Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 11:40 am  |  48 responses

Eric Gordon Wants Clippers to Play in a Different City


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

They may not make the Playoffs, but it has been a truly fantastic season for the Los Angeles Clippers. Led by the NBA’s most exciting young star, Blake Griffin, the Clip Show has become one of the darlings of the League in terms of watchability.

All of that being said, Los Angeles will always belong to the Lakers. Everyone knows this, including the Clippers themselves.

According to Eric Gordon, relocation wouldn’t be a bad idea for LA’s “other” NBA team.

From the Times:

The Clippers were being asked about the prospect of the Kings moving to Anaheim and what it would mean to an already crowded Southern California market. They noted that Sacramento used to be a difficult venue for opposing teams. Talk turned to one of the Clippers’ old homes: San Diego. “I wouldn’t mind going down there — to separate ourselves from L.A. from the Lakers,” Eric Gordon said. “But it’s always good to compete with them.”

… Gordon was told the Clippers nearly ended up in Anaheim, instead of going to Staples Center. Gordon said he wouldn’t mind Anaheim either and one reporter teased him about favoring other cities in Southern California.

“I like L.A.,” Gordon said. “I don’t have any complaints. But you see all L.A. everywhere, Lakers stuff everywhere… [you would] have your own identity within the city and your team. That’s just a lot better.”

Clippers owner Donald Sterling would of course never move the team from LA; he makes far too much money in that market to even consider the idea.

Eric Gordon and his teammates will forever live in the shadown of their glitzy neighbors. Moving will not help them forge an identiy. Smart team-building and, ultimately, winning will take care of that.

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  • Drew Posted: Mar.1 at 11:44 am
    They’re on the right track right now. If I’m a FA coming up in the next couple of years I’d strongly consider the Clippers over Lakers, because they have Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon. Lakers have a bunch of over the hill players. This is coming from a Lakers fan.

  • ron Posted: Mar.1 at 11:56 am
    Seattle? anyone?

  • mikejames Posted: Mar.1 at 11:56 am
    YEAH! they should totally move to Seattle!!!!!!

  • donaldsterlings Posted: Mar.1 at 11:57 am
    YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa they should def move to Seattle!!!!!!

  • Joey E. Posted: Mar.1 at 12:14 pm
    Drew, cosign. I was watching them last night. there was a span of about 4 minutes where Blake and DeAndre had about 4 ally oops from Mo Will. If im Deron or CP, and the clippers continue to improve next season, they will strongly consider the Clips with all that talent, in a weaker west

  • Dang I'm Nice!!! Posted: Mar.1 at 12:22 pm
    Bring back the Buffalo Braves!!!

  • Riggs Posted: Mar.1 at 12:57 pm
    i agree with EG, they were shoving the lakers down the fans throats on all star sunday. It was supposed to be a blake griffin + clippers all star weekend but everything from the dancers to the haier shooting stars LA team werent about the clippers.

  • gp23 Posted: Mar.1 at 1:06 pm
    Las Vegas ??

  • al Posted: Mar.1 at 1:27 pm
    Rochester Royals!!!!!

  • The Fresh Prince of Nsam Posted: Mar.1 at 1:27 pm
    Start winning and you’ll get outta the shadow of the Lakers.

  • kabelion Posted: Mar.1 at 1:40 pm
    Wow they should move

  • JTaylor21 Posted: Mar.1 at 1:53 pm
    Better be LV.

  • Shine Posted: Mar.1 at 2:00 pm
    SEATTLE

  • MikeC. Posted: Mar.1 at 2:12 pm
    @Riggs – that’s because the Lakers were the hosts of All-Star weekend. If the Clips were the host, it would have been all Clipper stuff. Except that Sterling is too cheap to pay out for stuff like that. The Clippers are lucky they have uniforms and not old T-shirts with numbers taped on the backs.

  • Dan Posted: Mar.1 at 2:17 pm
    @Mike C – False. The City of Los Angeles hosted, not the Lakers. The Clippers won’t move out of Staples as long as they are paying less than $4 million/year for rent. I think it might be even as little as $2 million.

  • Dan Posted: Mar.1 at 2:18 pm
    According to Forbes, the clippers were only paying $1.5 million a year for rent at Staples in 2008…and I believe they locked in a long term contract on that price: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/32/nba08_Los-Angeles-Clippers_322952.html

  • Drew Posted: Mar.1 at 2:21 pm
    Like JoeyE mentioned, can you imagine CP3 or DWill playing point on the Clippers? That will truly be “Where Amazing Happens!”

  • Max Posted: Mar.1 at 2:26 pm
    Has Blake destroyed the Clipper curse?

  • Mas Posted: Mar.1 at 2:39 pm
    In a few years Newark (NJ) will have a basketball void. Anyone up to coming into the ROCK and winning something. It seems so long ago the NETS went to 2 straight finals.
    I’m going to miss the NETS.

  • Jahi Posted: Mar.1 at 2:56 pm
    Maloof Kings to Vegas, Clippers to Seattle by 2012?

  • Riggs Posted: Mar.1 at 3:05 pm
    @Mike C. – werent the lakers the hosts a few years back? i thought this year was the clippers hosting? if thats the case then it adds even more to my argument.

  • Eric Ruggles Posted: Mar.1 at 3:11 pm
    @Riggs, Mike C. Neither the Lakers, nor the Clippers were hosting.
    Los Angeles was hosting the 2011 All Star weekend.
    It was Griffin’s Weekend, but neither team were hosting individually. It was more of a collaboration of both basketball clubs.

  • Riggs Posted: Mar.1 at 3:20 pm
    and by my i mean eric gordon’s.

  • RunNGun Posted: Mar.1 at 3:55 pm
    Hey Eric… how about New York with the Knicks?

  • youngmuggsy Posted: Mar.1 at 4:04 pm
    London!

  • M Cho Posted: Mar.1 at 4:33 pm
    Moving, team-building, whatever…none of this is going to really change free agents attitudes to the Clippers. Getting rid of Sterling will be the only real change that makes a difference. Having an owner determined to do everything on the cheap and sabotage his team is a powerful deterrent to winning.

  • ogog Posted: Mar.1 at 4:44 pm
    seattle!!!!!

  • izzo Posted: Mar.1 at 5:00 pm
    They should raise the rent at the Staples Center.

  • WallandRondo Posted: Mar.1 at 5:17 pm
    They should move to Worcester MA

  • wesjet23 Posted: Mar.1 at 5:21 pm
    Vancouver!!!!!

  • Allenp Posted: Mar.1 at 5:40 pm
    Man, Donald Sterling may be a racist scumbag, but he’s a wily racist scumbag.
    $1.5 million in rent? That is ridiculously low. That’s crazy. In Los Angeles? Wow.

  • saman Posted: Mar.1 at 6:14 pm
    Why don’t they move to the Lakers bench, learn how to win first.

  • MikeC. Posted: Mar.1 at 6:32 pm
    @ Eric & Dan – thanks for the correction. I assumed individual teams hosted the event. I definitely did hear one of the broadcasters say the Lakers were hosting. Possibly it was the Lakers hosting that particular event. If the Clips were co-hosts, they sure were crappy at it.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.1 at 7:35 pm
    Randy Foye is playing really well in place of Eric Gordon. The Clippers have got themselves a couple of really nice players.

  • Chukaz Posted: Mar.1 at 8:23 pm
    The clippers will not get a significant free agent ever. They do not play on a major market. They are the clippers. Nobody calls them the los angeles clippers. There’s the LA Lakers and there’s the clippers. The Lakers are from LA. The clippers play in LA. There’s a difference.

  • LA Huey Posted: Mar.1 at 9:22 pm
    Why did the NBA ever let this happen anyways?

  • Sam J Posted: Mar.1 at 10:25 pm
    Sterling will screw this all up somehow…

  • Zarfan Posted: Mar.1 at 10:28 pm
    St. Louis! Gordon and Griffin can play closer to their hometowns.

  • The Black Rick Kamla Posted: Mar.1 at 10:30 pm
    @LAHuey LA is just such a huge market that despite how terrible a franchise the Clippers are its hard not to have some economic success their. They can just feed off of the Lakers leftovers and survive. Anywhere else they’d tank.

  • The Black Rick Kamla Posted: Mar.1 at 10:32 pm
    *anywhere else they WOULD tank* things are different now, being you’ve got some dynamic young talent that can fill out some chairs, I think the time is better now than ever to make a change. But like @SamJ says, Sterling is just gonna screw it up somehow

  • Ali Saadat Posted: Mar.1 at 10:58 pm
    I’d like the Clips in Seattle

  • hoopistani Posted: Mar.2 at 3:12 am
    i agree. one city, one team

  • Galagu Posted: Mar.2 at 6:10 am
    Barrigada Guam!

  • iCARNACKi Posted: Mar.2 at 8:26 am
    Sterling is the problem, although I agree that LA will always the the Lakers’ home. No place needs two teams, even NYC. We all know the Nets are going to Brooklyn, that leaves the Kings and Hornets to move and I’d say the most sensible places are Kansas(New ready made arena)& Seattle(Stern owes Seattle an NBA team) it would be ideal for LAC to move to Anaheim but like its been said Sterling won’t do it… the NBA needs to get rid of him… he’s a cancer.

  • Bimmer Posted: Mar.2 at 8:33 am
    If I lived in LA I would cheer for the Clips easily

  • Hussman25 Posted: Mar.2 at 9:04 am
    Never needed to leave San Diego… Stern was being cheap back in tha day, moving them 2 LA!!! They need their own identity!

  • Tony Posted: Mar.2 at 9:28 am
    Eric Gordon should try and get back on the court before whining that he wants out of town

  • roman Posted: Mar.2 at 11:15 am
    @drew- you are smokin some good stuff. Clippers over Lakers!!!!! Please move to San Diego or where ever. City is only big enough for the Lakers!!!!!

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