On Sunday, the Los Angeles Clippers improved to 2-1 on the young 2025 NBA season with a home win over the Portland Trail Blazers. The Clippers seem to have fully bounced back after their puzzling season-opening loss against the Utah Jazz in blowout fashion, which had some fans wondering if their impressive offseason was not a sign of things to come after all.
At one point in the Blazers game, Clippers fans chanted “FBI” at Portland, referencing their head coach Chauncey Billups' recent arrest on charges relating to illegal poker games.
As he's been known to do, sports reporter Pablo Torre found a way to insert himself into the mix, pointing out Los Angeles' supposed hypocrisy with this chant considering the controversy currently surrounding their own organization.
“Chanting ‘FBI at another team inside the arena whose first Founding Partner has been infamously embroiled in its own FBI investigation is……… bold,” reported Torre.
The Clippers have been accused by Torre of circumventing the NBA salary cap by having star player Kawhi Leonard sign a no-show deal with the now-bankrupt company Aspiration, and the team is currently under investigation by the league, with no decision expected to be announced anytime soon.
An interesting Clippers team
Leonard controversy aside, the Los Angeles Clippers are hoping to put together another strong year in 2025-26 and make a deep playoff run, especially considering that it's unclear how many good years Leonard and co-star James Harden have left.
The Clippers have put together arguably the deepest team of the Leonard era, with great role players like John Collins, Kris Dunn, and a borderline All-Star center in Ivica Zubac manning the middle.
This, combined with a championship-winning head coach in Ty Lue, could be enough to vault the Clippers into contender status in the Western Conference, although the health of Leonard is always going to be a major question mark.
In any case, the Clippers will next take the floor on Tuesday evening on the road against the Golden State Warriors. That game is set to tip off at 11:00 PM ET from the Bay.
