One of the more interesting rumors going around the NBA is the relocation of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers and the Lakers have shared the Staples Center since it opened in 1999. Unfortunately, due to the lack of success during the Clippers’ history, many fans in and outside of Los Angeles see Staples Center as the true home of the Lakers. As a result, there has been some movement from the Clippers ownership to relocate once their lease from the Staples Center runs out in 2024.
The Options
There are some interesting options for the Clippers’ relocation and here are some of the few:
Building a New Arena
One of the more popular ideas is of the Clippers building a brand new arena in Inglewood. There are many pros and cons to this idea though.
One of the pros is that the Clippers would be able to get an arena that is state of the art. It also gives the Clippers an opportunity to have a fresh beginning in Los Angeles. One of the obvious cons of this venture though is how to get the money to build it. Granted, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is the richest owner in the NBA, so he knows his way with money and also how to work with people. Still, even with that, there could potentially be roadblocks ahead like how the city would feel about it. There’s potential pushback against the venture because there’s a chance that it would cost taxpayer money.
Buying the Forum
Another option that exists is the Clippers ownership buying the Lakers’ former home, The Forum. The Forum was the home of the Los Angeles Lakers from 1967 until they moved to the Staples Center in 1999. During that time, the Lakers had many historic players including Jerry West, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and they won six championships. That said, one of the big cons to this is how would Lakers fans feel about the Clippers taking over The Forum (especially the fans that grew up in that era). There could potentially be some resistance from Lakers fans to try to preserve their history in that building. Nonetheless, the Clippers could also build some new history at the Forum to go along with the Lakers history.
Moving out of L.A.
An interesting thing that the organization can do is to actually move out of the city of Los Angeles. The main reason for this is that most NBA fans see Los Angeles as the home of the Lakers and only the Lakers. One of the many pros to this is that it gives a new city an opportunity to have an NBA team. Just like building a new arena, it also gives the Clippers an opportunity to have a fresh start and grow a history within their new city. A couple of the cities that should be considered are Seattle and Cincinnati. Ever since 2008, Seattle has missed having a basketball team and it should be a great market for an NBA team. Cincinnati also has a great basketball market and they also haven’t had an NBA team since 1971.
Final Thoughts
Even though there’s not a lot of history with the Clippers, there’s a ton of potential that this franchise has to offer. Ever since Ballmer took over as owner, the franchise has certainly grown in both success rate and popularity, which often go hand in hand. With the options listed, there are many ways that the ownership of the organization can go and now that they have a potential title contender, movement could come sooner rather than later.
At this point, it would be better for the franchise and it will certainly help with the franchise break away from the ‘little brother’ image they have with the Lakers.