The NBA wasted absolutely no time kicking things off. The league has a pair of colossal matchups slated for Tuesday evening. With the 2020-21 regular season officially getting underway on Tuesday evening, the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors will be followed by the defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers and the rival Los Angeles Clippers.

Because the Lakers will be receiving their championship rings on Tuesday evening in Los Angeles, perhaps the Clippers felt the need to give their players something as well — a consolation prize of sorts? According to ClutchPoints' own Tomer Azarly, the Clippers players received brand new PlayStation 5 consoles and headphones prior to the Los Angeles showdown.

Obviously a videogame console cannot remotely compare to a championship ring, though Christmas definitely came early for both the Clippers and Lakers.

With the Nets already throttling the shorthanded Warriors in Brooklyn, the Clippers and Lakers are not too far off from taking the court out on the West Coast. With the Lakers looking to repeat as NBA champions in 2020-21, the Clippers and superstar forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will attempt to overtake their biggest rival early on.

Prior to superstar forward LeBron James and All-Star big man Anthony Davis cruising to a championship down in Orlando, the Clippers were ultimately ousted from title contention by the upstart Denver Nuggets. Of course, the Clippers blew a once commanding 3-1 series lead against the Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinal round. The Lakers then disposed of the Nuggets en route to winning the Western Conference and Larry O'Brien Trophy.

The Clippers know that their implosion against the Nuggets — not merely losing a 3-1 series lead, but blowing double-digit leads in multiple games at the end of that series — is a massive humiliation which can only be erased by reaching the franchise's first Western Conference Finals and then the team's first NBA Finals this season. That journey begins against the Lakers, the team the Clips know they have to go through.