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The pain is real, but putting NBA 2020 and the LA Clippers in perspective is important.
With the exception of my 92-year-old father, who is one of the original LA Clippers season ticket holders, a fixture in his aisle seat behind the visitor’s bench at almost every home game, chances are that There is no one sadder than me for the unexpected end of the Clippers season.
Clippers basketball runs deep in my family; We go to most of the home games, we travel for a few away games, we scrutinize every rumor, we represent in our Clippers loot, we spend the offseason counting the days until preseason starts. We even had imaginary plans for how we would enter the bubble for the NBA Finals. I can barely remember a time in my life when this was not the case, in the empty days when there was only one NBA team in Los Angeles.
So Games 5, 6, and 7 of the Denver series landed hard on my family. Like all Clipper Nations, we watched the dream slip possession by possession, minute by minute. I never leave a game early; Whether we’re over 20 or under 20, I don’t believe in “beating traffic” by leaving Staples Center before the final bell. If my team is still on the court, I am in my seat. That is why it pains me to admit that five minutes from the end of the decisive match 7, I turned off the television. Amid all the national and global sadness that has been our baseline in 2020, I just couldn’t see anymore. And for that, I apologize to the Clippers. It will not happen again.
Once the game was over, I started getting text messages that, without context, read like condolences one would receive after a death in the family. And I leaned towards him; pain dissipates when shared. Almost 48 hours after the game, I still didn’t know what the final score was, I hadn’t read a single basketball news story or checked social media, and I had folded my lucky Clippers jersey that I brought just for game 7.
Find gratitude
But in the light of day, I’ve felt gratitude for all the Clippers basketball that we got to experience. Shifting the focus from the 14 potential games we won’t play, I’m looking back at all the obstacles that seemed insurmountable but weren’t. Instead of thinking that we lost four weeks, I realize that we gained months that seemed like they would never happen.
When the NBA closed the night of March 11, the future of the 2019-2020 season was in serious doubt. Without control over the rapidly evolving coronavirus pandemic, the idea of basketball making a comeback this season was inconceivable and, frankly, unimportant. But over the course of months of research, concern, and painstaking plans and backup plans that involved the entire NBA community, the bubble emerged and basketball was back. However, the journey was not easy. Some players made the difficult decision to stay out of the bubble for personal reasons or concerns about loved ones who are at greater risk. In our own bubble of Clippers, all the players participated.
Following the tragic murder of George Floyd by the police, the NBA family was reeling along with the rest of the nation. Difficult questions were asked about whether basketball was relevant. The community was rightly concerned that the game focused on the real and deadly problems of systemic racism. Again, the Clippers opted to participate; the daily attention of the NBA was rightly seen as a means of amplifying concerns on a daily basis.
So, against all odds, with a massive testing and quarantine protocol, the NBA resumed with preseason games and then an abbreviated round of seeded games. Once again, the Clippers’ path was not an easy one, as Landry Shamet and Ivica Zubac tested positive for Covid-19 and therefore were unable to join the team from the jump. Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams had to leave the bubble for personal family reasons, only to return later with the required quarantine period.
And Montrezl Harrell endured the loss of his beloved grandmother, his role model, during which time he left the bubble for about a month to be with the family. The raw emotion of his loss was shared with the Clippers community via social media, and the chances of his return did not seem clear. But again, in this unlikely year, the new Sixth Man of the Year returned, was hugged by his teammates, and the playoffs began.
Paul George struggled at first, valiantly sharing his battles with the bubble depression. With professional help and the support of his teammates, he found his rhythm. For the first time in memory, the entire Clippers team was locked up and healthy.
On August 26, 2020, the NBA season changed again as the Milwaukee Bucks staged a Game 5 strike of their series with the Orlando Magic in protest of another police shooting of a black man. Immediately after, professional sports teams across the country metaphorically knelt. The NBA players held meetings; It was widely reported that the Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers voted that night to end the season.
It’s not about me, but I was moved to tears when the news broke – both tears of pride at the unfathomably difficult decisions the players I love are making, and tears of sadness that this carefully designed bubble was about to burst.
And once again, improbably, the playoffs resumed, with a real and immediate commitment on the part of the property and the league to address and advance life-threatening issues of racial injustice.
Once again, the Clipper Nation was caught up in the whirlwind of playoff basketball played at an unusual breakneck pace every other night. We barely had time to analyze one game before the next started. For fans, this constant stream of crazy high-level competition was the adrenaline rush straight through our veins, while always acknowledging the unprecedented public health crisis that spawned the bubble playoffs.
And then Denver happened. So yeah, the Clippers’ playoff streak ended much, much earlier than we expected, hoped, and dreamed of. But the Clippers played 24 games after the March 11 shutdown. 24 games we never would have anticipated if they had asked us six months ago. 24 games to enjoy with my dad. They are irreplaceable moments.
I’m still sad, I keep avoiding all basketball related news and will wholeheartedly support the Clippers for whoever is playing the Lakers. But I’m also incredibly grateful for all the Clippers basketball that we got to enjoy, against all odds.
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