The New Basketball Kings Of LA

Los Angeles has been known as Lakers territory since 1960, with The Clippers always being the "little brother" to them. The Clipper's have had their own moment with Lob City, where they were clearly the better team. Recently The Lakers have taken back the city of Los Angeles with the signing of LeBron James, but do they truly have the brighter future?

The Lakers have their young-core they are proud of with Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma. On paper this core seems like they would be a very good future, but I truly believe that they are overrated. Lonzo Ball is only 21 years old with a lot of potential, but the main concern with him is his aggressiveness. Ball's aggressiveness is spotty at best. On January 2nd Ball only shot 4 shots against the Thunder, while on January 7th he shot the ball 15 times. With this type of inconsistency we don't truly know what Lonzo we are getting night in and night out. Lonzo Ball needs to pick up his aggressiveness in order tor each his full potential, if not he'll become a bust. With year 2 and year 3, Ingram has only gone up by .4 points per game, averaging only 16.5. When coming into the league Ingram was thought of as a Kevin Durant-type scorer, who could tear a team up. So far Ingram has not lived up to his expectations at all. The next of the core is Kyle Kuzma, who is an extremely good scorer however he isn't consistent enough. Kuzma is averaging 18.2 points and is the best player of this core. Kuzma might not have the same name as Ball and Ingram, but when he came into the league, Kuzma quickly made a name for himself.

The Next Laker on this list is LeBron James, who is already 34 years old and not getting any younger.  He recently just signed a 4-year deal with the Lakers, which means they have him till he's 38. LeBron is one of the greatest players of all time, but how much does he truly have left in his tank? On Christmas Day against the Warriors, LeBron suffered an injury to his groin and still isn't back. I hate to wish injury on any player every and wouldn't ever want to see it, especially to someone as polarizing and an icon like how LeBron is, but this could be a sign that going to 8 straight times is finally catching up to him. During these 8 years, LeBron played on Team USA, lead the league in minutes per game last year, and played the entire season last year. Father Time catches up to all of us from Kobe Bryant to Peyton Manning, this could be the beginning of the end for LeBron.

On the other hand, The Los Angeles Clippers seem to be rising. They have a new owner, Steve Ballmer, who is working with Doc Rivers to change the culture. Now we don't have to go into detail about what happened with the old owner, but I think everyone can agree that bringing in a new owner was a great move. When Doc Rivers got to LA he had all the banners, and retired Laker's jerseys covered up, as a way to make his players feel as if they aren't living in the shadow of the Lakers. Ballmer is currently looking into moving the team to Inglewood, to help the Clippers move out of the shadow of the Lakers.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is looking like a great pickup for the Clippers. He is absolutely knock down from the mid-range, every time he shoots from mid-range it feels like it's going in. Even Kevin Durant said that Shai was the best rookie he played up against last year, a cosign from a finals MVP I feel it's a huge deal. Last Season the honor went to Donovan Mitchell, who went on to be Runner up Rookie of the Year.

The Clippers are going to get Kwahi Leonard, like it or not this is what will happen. Woj said that the Clippers are sending officials to every Raptor's game, home or away, to try to bring him in. Kwahi hates the cold to and it was reported that during the Allstar break in Toronto a few years ago, Kwahi didn't leave his room because of the Temperature. Kwahi wants to come home to LA and doesn't want to live in LeBron's shadow, so the Clippers is where he will take over the town. A product of Los Angeles will help win the city over for sure.

The Clippers are the team of the future in Los Angeles, they have built a tough team with a tough identity. The Clippers already were 1st in the West at one point this season already, that is without Kwahi who will come to LA next year. The Lakers are mainly hyped up players who aren't living up to expectations, and are currently struggling to fight for the playoffs, currently 8th, without LeBron. The Clippers however are currently 4th in the Western Conference with no sight of slowing down. The City of Los Angeles better watch out for the new powerhouse in the NBA.