Never forget these Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers’ run to an overachieving 48-win season started from the very beginning of 2018-19 and never stopped, no matter how hard it often seemed the team’s management tried. The Clippers, forever a second-class citizen in their city next to LeBron James’ own Lakers, blew fans’ minds from the get-go with a flurry of talent unfamiliar to most at a national scale.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had a good but not fantastic single season at Kentucky just months prior, stepped right into the spotlight and commanded an NBA offense at 19 years old. Montrezl Harrell, a 2015 second-round pick, scored like a top-10 center. Rookie Landry Shamet, acquired in the middle of the season, played the part of a veteran shooter. Patrick Beverley ascended to a polarizing and efficient pest. Danilo Gallinari, at 30 years old, had his best and healthiest season. Lou Williams was himself, times a hundred. The Clippers superstarless bunch was not only overachieving — they were fun.

The Clippers regular-season run and the joy that came with it was supposed to be over at the trade deadline. Tobias Harris, the team’s leading scorer, was dealt for only one player who made LA’s rotation, and that was Shamet. Yet, this team persisted and radiated positivity to coerce the average viewer to sit down and watch.

The Clippers are hilariously anonymous. Of the 16 players the team has signed (including two-way contracts), 15 of them have Instagram accounts. Those 15 players combine for less than 2.2 million followers. Compared to the other LA team: LeBron alone has 48.8 million. Lonzo Ball has 6.4 million; Kyle Kuzma 3 million, and Brandon Ingram 2 million. You have to really be paying attention to know much about Steve Ballmer’s employees.

But it feels like Clippers fandom grew, and deservingly so. The franchise completely and successfully rebranded away from Lob City. In the playoffs, LA stayed true to form as the “roaches” head coach Doc Rivers said they were. They took a Warriors team with infinitely more talent and pushed them to six games. They complete the most historic comeback in playoff history, coming back from down 31 points to win Game 2. With three-point shooting everywhere and animated leaders like Beverley and Harrell, the Clippers were everything that could’ve been asked of a No. 8 seed and more.

This is just the beginning for the new-look post-Lob City Clippers, too. Gilgeous-Alexander is 20 years old, and he and the 22-year-old Shamet are both playing under their rookie-scale contracts. Williams is on a team-friendly deal that’ll keep him home for two more years at $8 million per season. Harrell and Gallinari each have one more year remaining. We haven’t even seen what last year’s No. 13 pick Jerome Robinson can do yet, and the Clippers have the No. 20 pick in this year’s draft too.

Oh, and they have all that cap space you’ve likely heard about constantly.

The 2018-19 Clippers will be remembered as an all-timer group of cult heroes. Their run to the playoffs despite trading away their best player was enough to marvel at. Then a six-game series with the Warriors rose them into an exclusive echelon of great cult classics.

Never forget these Clippers, but open your heart to what’s to come from them in six months.