The Los Angeles Clippers sustained some heavy damage to their roster coming into the 2017-18 NBA season. With the departure of two of their most prolific scorers in superstar point guard Chris Paul and veteran sixth man Jamal Crawford, Los Angeles has had a tough time rebuilding around power forward Blake Griffin.
After suffering consecutive first-round losses in the playoffs, it is easy to understand why these two players were ready to move on. However, Crawford feels that the heartbreaking playoff series against the Houston Rockets in 2015 still haunts them to this day, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune
“Obviously, stuff happens for a reason,” he said. “There’s fate and all that stuff. But you’re up 19 at home and you lose? You do that 100 times, 99 times it works in our favor. … I’m not sure you ever get over those. I’m not sure you do.
“I may wake up 10 years from now and say, ‘Man, that opportunity we had.’ Those opportunities don’t come around that often.”
Although it is difficult to pin their eventual departure on something that happened years prior, there is plenty of truth to Crawford's comments. The Clippers were coming off an impressive seven-game series win over the formidable San Antonio Spurs. They even took a 3-1 lead over the Houston Rockets in the conference semis before ultimately faltering over the next three games.
It was just a matter of time before Paul found his way to a Rockets team that is arguably the best in the league right now. Meanwhile, Crawford is filling his usual role as a bench scorer on a formidable Minnesota Timberwolves squad looking to make its own surge in the Western Conference playoffs. As for the Clippers, it is safe to assume they may be back to the early stages of a rebuild soon.
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