Ivica Zubac was traded from the Lakers to the Clippers at the deadline in a rather stunning deal that saw the Clippers send the Lakers Mike Muscala for the young center and Michael Beasley.
It was a last gasp push from the Lakers to bolster their roster for a playoff push that ultimately backfired, and it was the team in purple and gold that initiated conversations, stunning the Clippers brass who quickly said yes and later laughed about it. The Clippers are the only team in Los Angeles headed to the playoffs, and since joining the crosstown rival, Zubac has averaged 9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, helping them clinch a postseason berth.
Zubac has found his comfort zone with the Clippers, and this has somewhat surprised him. The Lakers are always talked about as L.A.’s first class franchise, but he’s found the opposite to be the case this year. For Zubac, he wants hoops fans in L.A. to learn what he has about the Clippers.
Zubac told the Orange County Register at Tuesday’s practice that he regularly hears from Lakers fans sad he was traded. What he’s started doing is recruiting those to Clipper games with a very factual sales pitch, but one that will certainly sting the Laker faithful.
“A bunch of fans have come up to me and they say, ‘Why did we trade you? The Lakers front office did the biggest mistake,’” Zubac said Tuesday before the Clippers practiced at their training facility in Playa Vista. “Everyone’s like, ‘We miss you.’ And I always say, ‘I’m on a better team now. You don’t have to be sad for me.’ And I always make sure to tell them, ‘Check our game out if you want to see good basketball.’
“I always make sure to tell them, ‘If you want to watch playoff basketball, we’re at Staples,’” he added. “So it’s up to them, but I’m always gonna keep trying. People got this bad image about Clippers, like Clippers did something bad. But the thing is, the Clippers never did something bad, they’re just another team in L.A.”
Of all the things that have happened to the Lakers this year (and there’s been a lot), I think the most painful might be Ivica Zubac rightfully pointing out that the only good basketball fans in L.A. can watch in April is Clippers games.
The Lakers expected this to be the season that began their ascent back to the top of the NBA, but instead they’re once again on the outside looking in. To make matters worse, a reserve center they traded to their rival for another reserve center who has been worse is now recruiting fans to leave the Lakers and come enjoy “good basketball” at Clippers games.
