The Clippers have already draped their player-featured posters over the Lakers’ championship banners and retired jersey. They have at least temporarily taken away the conversation from the Lakers’ woes that ensured their worst season since moving to Los Angeles 54 years ago and shifted talk to their first-round series against Golden State. And now, the Clippers have done this – tie red-and-blue balloons onto the heels of every Lakers statue outside Staples Center.
Yup, the video above shows balloons around Magic Johnson and Jerry West while they direct the offense, around Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as he shoots a skyhook and while around the late Chick Hearn while he calls the action.
All of this will lead to inevitable outrage among Lakers fans. They will stew about the apparent disrespect even though the Clippers can host their games at Staples Center however they see fit. They will make jokes that the Clippers feature balloons while the Lakers feature statues. They will brag about the Lakers’ storied championship history. They will then lament that foundation won’t temporarily fix the Lakers’ lost season.
There is an easy solution of course: don’t look at the balloons. There’s a more difficult solution: the Lakers’ quest to rebuild quickly.
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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com