The Lakers–Clippers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. The two Pacific Division teams both play their home games in the Greater Los Angeles area, thus inspiring their matchups to sometimes be called the "Battle of L.A." The Lakers originally relocated from Minneapolis in 1960, while the Clippers moved from San Diego in 1984 after previously moving to San Diego from Buffalo, New York, while going away from the original Buffalo Braves name in 1978. While Los Angeles fans have historically favored the Lakers, the Clippers have sold out or filled capacity for every home game at Staples Center since February 2011 and entered the 2016–17 season with the sixth-longest active sellout streak in the NBA, which continued up until the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lakers have won 12 of their 17 NBA championships since moving to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the Clippers are the oldest franchise in North American professional sports to have never appeared in a championship game. Some contended that the term rivalry was inaccurate due to the Lakers' historical success and the Clippers' historical lack of success. In the 2012–13 season, the Clippers won the first of six straight season series against the Lakers.
The Lakers hold a 107–66 advantage in the all-time series since the Clippers moved to Los Angeles. The two teams have never met in the playoffs. The Lakers lost a 3–1 series lead and failed to advance to the Western Conference semifinals against the Clippers in 2006, while the Clippers also lost a 3–1 lead against the Denver Nuggets in 2020, nixing a conference finals matchup with the eventual NBA champion Lakers.
From the opening of Crypto.com Arena (known then as Staples Center) in 1999, the Lakers and Clippers shared the arena, when their matchups were sometimes called the "Hallway Series". The Clippers moved to Intuit Dome in Inglewood in 2024, while the Lakers remained at Crypto.com Arena.
History
1970–1984: Early years The Lakers had existed in Los Angeles since 1960 after relocating there from Minneapolis, for which they had played in the NBA since 1948 since moving over from the NBL a season prior and won 5 championships there before the Clippers were founded in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves. During their first match against each other, the Lakers beat the Braves 104–90 on October 30, 1970, at The Forum, continuing the middle of what became a 9-game losing streak for Buffalo after debuting with a 107–92 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Braves originally played in the Atlantic Division before moving to San Diego in the 1978–79 season and were subsequently renamed the Clippers, officially joining the Lakers in the Pacific Division. San Diego won in their first game against the Lakers, winning 124–113 on October 24, 1978. "This is a good way to start off a rivalry", said Clippers owner Irv Levin afterwards.
1984: First years together in Los Angeles The Lakers were joined by the Clippers in Los Angeles in 1984 after six seasons in San Diego following the Clippers' ownership change to Donald Sterling. The team originally made their home in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (formerly the Lakers' home arena from 1960 to 1967), about from the Lakers then-home at The Forum in Inglewood. After the Clippers move, the teams drew a crowd of 14,991 in their first meeting at the Sports Arena; it was the then-largest home-court attendance in Clippers history. The fans were evenly divided in their support of the two teams. The Lakers won 108–103, and the Associated Press (AP) wrote that "a crosstown rivalry was born". Former Lakers guard Norm Nixon, then in his second year with the Clippers, said "I think it's going to great every time we play ... When we get some more [wins], our fans won't have to cover their heads with their hats anymore." The Clippers marketed themselves as the "People's Team" with ticket prices ($4, $8, $12, and $15) that were lower than the Lakers ($7, $9.50, $13.50, and $27.50 and above). Lakers coach Pat Riley commented, "I felt we've done more the last 20 years to be the 'People's Team'"
1984–2013: Lakers success and Clippers struggles
By 1986, the Lakers were still undefeated against the Clippers, and AP offered that it was "a crosstown rivalry that hasn't been much of one." Lakers fans would outnumber Clippers fans at the Sports Arena during the teams' matchups for years until 1992, when the Clippers had their first winning season since 1978–79 and their first playoff appearance since 1976. The Lakers, on the other hand, struggled in 1991–92 with Lakers great Magic Johnson's retirement after he tested positive for HIV. The Clippers ended a 27-game Forum losing streak against the Lakers that season, and they finished with a better record than the Lakers. They again finished ahead of the Lakers in 1992–93. They also won the season series against the Lakers for the first time since moving to Los Angeles. It was also their first as a franchise since 1974–75, when they were still the Buffalo Braves. In 1993–94, both teams missed the playoffs marking the first time that both teams had missed the postseason in the same season, a feat that was later repeated in the 2004–2005 season, when the Clippers finished 37-45 and the Lakers finished 34–48.
From the 1994–95 to 1998–99 seasons, the Clippers played a limited number of home games at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now Honda Center). In those seasons, the Clippers played the Lakers at the Pond only three times, compiling a record of 1–2 against the Lakers in Anaheim. A deal to move the Clippers to Anaheim on a permanent basis was declined by the team in 1996,Los Angeles Times leading to the eventual decision to have the Clippers join the Lakers at the Staples Center when it opened in 1999.
The Clippers did not finish ahead of the Lakers again until 2004–05. Lakers star Kobe Bryant almost joined the Clippers that season as a free agent before re-signing with the Lakers. The Clippers in 2005–06 won 47 games and finished two games ahead of the Lakers. During the season, Bryant said that "rivalries are made in the playoffs, not in the regular season". In the 2006 playoffs, the Lakers built a 3–1 first-round series lead against the Phoenix Suns before losing 4–3, spoiling a potential crosstown matchup with the Clippers in the second round. The Clippers’ second-round series against Phoenix drew higher television ratings in Southern California than the Lakers’ first-round loss to Phoenix. They missed the conference finals by one game, losing 4–3 to the Suns akin to the Lakers losing to the Suns 4–3 earlier in the first round.
Prior to a matchup in 2008 with the Lakers at 3–0 and the Clippers 0–4, the Los Angeles Times wrote that "even the involved parties have trouble referring to this thing as a rivalry." Lakers coach Phil Jackson said the two teams were "always going to be a rivalry" yet on many occasions, he picked on the Clippers' often poor record.
2013–2019: Roles reversed
Starting with the 2010–11 season, Blake Griffin, with his highlight reel plays, helped draw interest in the Clippers. A turning point in the rivalry occurred before the following season, when the Lakers thought they had acquired Chris Paul in a trade from the New Orleans Hornets, but commissioner David Stern vetoed the trade and Paul was instead traded to the Clippers. Prior to Paul's arrival, the Clippers had the worst overall winning percentage in the NBA (.349) since they moved to Los Angeles, while the Lakers during that same period had the best (.659).
In a game that season between the two teams won by the Clippers, tempers flared and seven technical fouls were called. Although it was a home game for the Clippers at Staples, Clippers fans were still outnumbered by Lakers fans. In a heated rematch won by the Lakers, ESPN wrote, "If the Staples co-tenants didn't have a rivalry before [the game], they have one now." Paul was upset after the game that Lakers forward Pau Gasol touched him on the head. "...don't touch the top of my head like I'm one of your kids", warned Paul. Some Clippers in 2012 denied that a rivalry existed. Griffin offered that "a rivalry has to be evenly matched, and this one hasn't been over the years." Clippers center DeAndre Jordan said the Lakers "are proven. They have more championships. They have Hall of Famer players. We're still a young team."
The Clippers in 2011–12 had a winning record for only the third time since Donald Sterling bought the team in 1981 and made the playoffs for only the fifth time since moving to Los Angeles. The Clippers led the Lakers by games in mid-February before the Lakers overtook them by one game for the Pacific Division title.
For the first time in 2012–13, the Clippers, like the Lakers, had reasonable expectations to win an NBA championship. The Clippers signed former Lakers Ronny Turiaf, Matt Barnes, and Lamar Odom, who joined Caron Butler as Clippers who had played for the Lakers. Coach Mike Brown of the 0–2 Lakers called the 1–0 Clippers "a better team" prior to their first meeting. He added, "It's sort of a rivalry now, and so it will probably be a physical game." However, Brown likened the Clippers to his Cleveland Cavaliers teams with LeBron James trying to form a rivalry with the Boston Celtics despite Cleveland's lack of championships. Lakers fans booed the Clippers during warmups and player introductions, which Griffin did not witness before during his rookie season. He said Lakers fans "didn't really care" about the Clippers before, and he attributed the newfound attention to his team's turnaround. The Clippers won the game, dropping the Lakers to 0–3 for the first time in 34 years. The game was televised by ESPN and drew a 5.9 rating in Los Angeles, the network's highest-rated regular season game ever in the L.A. market. The Clippers later defeated the defending NBA champions, the Miami Heat, but the city was more engrossed in the Lakers' firing of Brown and the hiring of Mike D'Antoni. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra subsequently called the Clippers "legit contenders for the title", while Arash Markazi of ESPN.com called them "the best team in L.A." Prior to their second meeting that season, the Clippers were 25–8 and fighting for the best record in the league, while the Lakers were 15–16—nine games behind the Clippers—and looking to secure a playoff spot in the Western Conference. For only the fourth time in their prior 127 meetings since they moved to Los Angeles, the Clippers had a better record than the Lakers entering their matchup when both teams had played 30 or more games. Prior to the game, Bryant called the Clippers "top contenders" for a championship. The Clippers won 107–102 in a nationally televised game that gave ESPN its best NBA regular-season overnight rating (2.7) in nearly two years. The local Los Angeles rating of 5.7 was the second highest ever behind the record set in the teams' previous meeting. The Clippers also won their third meeting, 125–101, after starting the game with a 15–0 lead. The win clinched the season series for the Clippers for the first time in 20 years since 1992–93. On April 7, the Clippers defeated the Lakers 109–95, clinching their first Pacific Division title in franchise history. The Lakers had won 23 of the previous 42 division titles. The win also completed a season sweep of the Lakers, 4–0. The franchise had not swept the Lakers since 1974–75, when they were in Buffalo. While both teams qualified for the playoffs that season, they were both eliminated in the first round, as the Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs, and the Clippers lost in six games to the Memphis Grizzlies. It would be the Lakers last playoff appearance until 2020, their longest postseason drought in franchise history.