The creation of the “super team,” where big stars team up
together in order to chase championship rings has been a reoccurring theme in
the NBA lately.
The Miami Heat did it two seasons ago and have reached the
NBA Finals both seasons since Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh came
together.
Carmelo Anthony joined forces with Amar’e Stoudemire in
order to have a better shot at a title while Chris Paul nearly got the chance
to team up with Kobe Bryant.
Although Paul did end up in L.A. he didn’t end up with the
Lakers. He ended up with the Los Angeles Clippers instead.
The closest thing Paul has to a superstar playing with him
on the Clippers is power forward Blake Griffin. Now Griffin isn’t as playoff tested
as some of the other players mentioned so far in this article but he’s not a
bad alternative as far as superstar sidekicks go.
Paul isn’t just depending on Griffin to help him in his
chase for a title though. Griffin and Paul got pretty banged up in last year’s
playoffs and also suffered fatigue from playing so many minutes.
So instead of trying to recruit another superstar during the
offseason, Paul and Griffin looked to recruit good players in volume. Those two
were instrumental in getting Jamal Crawford to sign with the team.
Matt Barnes, Grant Hill, Willie Green and Lamar Odom also
signed on to help. Loading up on free agents was just part of the equation
though.
The Clippers have also done a great job of developing the
young talent they already had on hand.
Center DeAndre Jordan has seen his offensive game improve by
leaps and bounds this season while backup point guard Eric Bledsoe is still
riding the high from the confidence he gained during the Clippers playoff run.
The Clippers are hoping that all the depth and talent they
have amassed will not only help them reach the NBA Finals for the first time in
the organization’s history but that it will also result in them bringing the
Larry O’Brien trophy home in June.
They’re not off to a bad start either. The only team in the
league that has a better record than the Clippers right now is the Oklahoma
City Thunder.
There are still a lot of regular season games left to play
though before we start getting too carried away with any post-season talk.
Still, when was the last time somebody mentioned the Clippers as a title
contender this early in the season?
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at sportmentalist@yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
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