Hall of Famer Jerry West has opened up about how the current league suspension — as well as the possibility of the season being cancelled entirely — has had an adverse effect on the heated rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers.

According to the Lakers legend, who currently serves as a board member for the Clippers franchise, these two sides could have set themselves up for an epic matchup in the Western Conference Finals had it not been for the hiatus.

“[The Clippers] were ascending OK, and now when are we going to get back? When are we going to get back? No one knows,” West recently told Ernie Johnson on NBA TV, via Jonathan Soveta of The Score. “And the Lakers across town – this would have been an incredible thing for basketball if someway, somehow, these two teams could have played in a Western Conference final.”

West went on to say that a meeting between these two bitter cross-town rivals at the highest stage possible would have produced some quality entertainment for the viewers. The 81-year-old just could not hide his disappointment in not being able to get his daily dose of NBA basketball.

“I think you would have seen record numbers on TNT,” the Lakers legend continued. “I think the viewership would have been obviously biased toward the Lakers, which is great, OK. It's just horrible to sit here and not have something to root for, or me anticipating to see (the) Milwaukee (Bucks) in the East or the other good teams over there.”

We're all probably like West to some extent in that we truly miss the league, the Lakers, and the Clippers. Then again, the health and well-being of the players, staff, and workers must take precedence over basketball, so until the pandemic is suppressed, we will all just have to sit and wait patiently.

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