The basketball battle for California usually centers on the rivalry in Los Angeles. The LA Clippers, as everyone knows, have risen from a history of failure to become (recently, anyway) the best basketball team to call the Staples Center home. And they’ve managed to ditch that disease of an owner that plagued them for decades. But there are still plenty of people who think the Clippers LA dominance, feelgood story as it is, was only made possible by Kobe Bryant’s injuries. In other words, if Kobe Bryant is healthy LA is the Lakers’ town, no matter how many times Blake Griffin hits his head on the Staples Center ceiling. But what about California at large–there’s that team up North…
Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors made a real playoff run last year and Curry established himself as a legit top ten (top five?) NBA star. In a preseason match up Sunday between the Lakers and Golden State, Kobe tried to erase an 18-point halftime deficit by guarding Curry himself. He slowed Curry down a little but didn’t stop him–and the task took something out of Kobe offensively. (Kobe made just three shots and committed four turnovers.) The Lakers lost 108-71. That follows a 120-105 loss to the Warriors days earlier. Is this year the passing of the torch in California, from one NBA superstar to a new one? Will the fire burn outside LA?
Kobe on challenging Curry: “Even at this age, those are one of those things I thrive on the most, is trying to keep up w/ these young bucks”
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 13, 2014
