Los Angeles Lakers: We're primed for LA title battle with the Clippers
Watch the Clippers and the Lakers face off as part of our season opening double-header live on Sky Sports Arena, with tip-off at 3.30am next Wednesday morning
Friday 18 October 2019 18:12, UK
There's always something special about basketball at the Staples Center but this year it could be positively blockbuster viewing throughout the season with both LA teams viable title contenders.
That's after the Lakers decided to cash in on a number of young players and picks to pair Anthony Davis with LeBron James, creating one of the most powerful duos in the NBA.
Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and picks including number four in this year's draft (which the New Orleans Pelicans flipped to the Atlanta Hawks for additional draft assets) were the price to bring the Brow to LA.
Live NBA: LA Lakers @ LA Clippers
Meanwhile, the Clippers pushed all their chips in to mark themselves as contenders when they convinced Kawhi Leonard to return to his home town with 2019 NBA Finals MVP coming fresh from leading the Toronto Raptors to their first-ever title.
To do that, the Clippers front office had to acquire Paul George and that meant making a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder where they gave up forward Danilo Gallinari, highly-promising young point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a record-breaking haul of draft picks, including five first-round selections.
But that's the power of a star pairing in the NBA and heading into the new season and Leonard had made it clear wanted to pair up with George, so the Clippers were willing to pay any price.
Given the break-up of the Golden State Warriors super-team it means the balance of power has shifted in California from the Bay Area to Los Angeles - and the Lakers are ready for battle.
Green on battling Kawhi for the LA bragging rights
Like Leonard, Danny Green also swapped Toronto for LA fresh from winning a second title ring but he'll be playing for the Lakers this season and cannot wait to lock horns with his former team-mate, with whom he also won a title for the Spurs back in 2014, as the two Western Conference favourites go head-to-head.
The 32-year-old can already feel anticipation building in the City of Angels.
He said: "I think the whole city is expecting to be a different type of year all around. Especially on the sports side of things, competitive-wise. I think both teams have made some really good additions and are going to be contenders.
"I'm learning as I go, but I will get a chance to actually chop it up, see him, probably kick it once we both get settled.
"I have not spoken to him about the energy, but I could just feel the energy. I know what it takes."
Big-twos still need their supporting cast
Green's new team-mate Jared Dudley has previously suited up for the Clippers so he knows exactly how it feels to be under the NBA microscope in the USA's second-largest city.
The veteran, entering his 13th year in the league, knows both teams have now acquired the necessary firepower to fight for the title by acquiring their respective star pairings but he reckons that some of the more understated factors which could decide which team emerges from the Western Conference.
Dudley said: "This league has always been about star players. Sometimes it's drafted, sometimes it's formed.
"For us, now it's getting more around the two stars, so it comes down to role players. Which team has the best bench?
"Whichever teams have the best, three, four, five - because you know one and two usually do it, so the teams that have the better chemistry and fit at the right time... it's all about timing, getting to the playoffs in the right way and your role players."
Lakers more than just LeBron and AD
The Lakers are fortunate in that regard that they have a very experienced roster of role players incorporating a number of former NBA All-Stars including Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins - although Cousins, a summer arrival from the Warriors, has succumbed to serious injury once more.
They also retained talented forward Kyle Kuzma who is just 24 despite entering his third NBA season and provides some much-needed youth to the team.
Green is looking forward to seeing how it all meshes together and admits he can recognise that even a player of his experience and talent will be more acutely scrutinised than ever before playing with the Lakers and alongside LeBron.
He said: "I see the magnifying glass from afar, from being in other cities, being on other teams, knowing. It's not just being in a big city like LA but playing alongside guys like LeBron and Anthony Davis and many other Hall of Famers that we have here.
"Dwight Howard, DeMarcus - who just went down - but so many other guys that are All-Stars, or have been, like Rondo, in this league.
"It's going to be an even bigger magnifying glass, so I think the biggest key for us is just to try to find a way to gel and try to make our personalities all match and fit, so they don't clash."
Heightened rivalry right from the start
It's going to take some time, no doubt, for the Lakers to settle into what they'll become but the intensity of the city rivalry will be ratcheted up from the get-go, with the teams set to face each other on opening night and then as part of the Christmas Day schedule, before clashes at the end of the January and near the beginning of March.
The development of both teams' rotations and tactics over the course of the season is going to be fascinating to watch and for a 34-year-old California boy like Dudley, it's special to get the chance to move to a contender so close to home - especially one with such a storied history as the Lakers.
He said: "Anytime you play the Lakers to be honest with you, even when they weren't one of the top teams, it's like a big game anyway, because half the crowd on the road is for the opposing team and their home games it's Lakers fans anyway. It's such a big, big game.
"I think playing against the Clippers so much, because you play them opening night, you play them Christmas, we all know the big games come to that - you want to see how you stack up against the top teams.
"For me, the excitement is really to put on this jersey. Being from San Diego, my mum is a big Lakers fan, there are expectations to win right away with this team.
"So, to be able to put this uniform on and be able to go measure against the Milwaukees, the Houstons and see day by day how we improve, I think it's a special time.
"It's something very rare, a lot of NBA players don't get to be able to have that opportunity. So for me in year 13, I want to seize it."
The Los Angeles Lakers will feature four times as part of a record 48-games being broadcast at Primetime in Europe on Sky Sports this season.
