Haven't I Seen This Before? Same Old Warriors, Same Old Clippers.

The Warriors are coming off of their best regular season since Michael Jordan was lacing up cleats. Their star player, Baron Davis, has developed into a legitimate MVP-caliber point guard with game changing skills and the uncanny ability to will his team to victories over even the most powerful opponents. When seen at public events, he is introduced not as an athlete, but as a hero. Throngs of fawning fans stand up to applaud his on-going efforts without a second thought. He is perceived as a savior, for having saved the San Francisco Bay Area, which had been long starved for winning basketball, but fed naught but Vonteego Cummings and Bimbo Coles.

In a flash, it’s gone.

Baron Davis opts out of his $17.8 million dollar final year in Golden State to become an unrestricted free agent, at the same time reaching a verbal agreement with the Los Angeles Clippers on a 5 year, $65 million dollar contract. Warriors Nation is devastated, betrayed, and heartbroken. Their hero is gone.

In reality, Warriors ownership left Baron little choice. The oft-injured point guard finally managed to play through a full 82 season in 2007-2008, and understandably sought a long-term security for his efforts. After all – what are the odds that he gets through a full 82 games ever again? Since 2002-2003, Baron played more than 67 games just once, and has averaged just 52 out of a possible 82 games per season over that time span.

Despite this, Clippers fans, the forgotten NBA fans of Los Angeles, still bitter at the constant, nagging success of the cross-town purple and gold, finally have reason to rejoice. Baron Davis, perennial All-Star snub, is coming to town. With Elton Brand, another legitimate MVP-type player, coming back to the lineup after a season ending knee injury last season, the Clippers are primed to contend for the first time since… well… ever.

Think of the possibilities! Baron Davis, Elton Brand, and the up-and-coming Chris Kaman will form a formidable 1-2-3 with scoring punch, provide superb low-block defense and rebounding, and plenty of flash and style. High-scoring swingman Corey Maggette will likely be out the door due to financial restraints, but with that lineup, who cares?

Where will the new-look Clippers finish in the west? 4th? 2nd? Are they the new Celtics? Can they stay healthy?

Then reality struck on July 9th – a day that will undoubtedly live in infamy in Clippers lore. Elton Brand, who had opted out of his final contract year specifically to give the Clippers the financial freedom to sign close friend Baron Davis, did the unthinkable -- he agreed to terms with the Philadelphia 76ers on a 5 year, $82 million dollar contract. Warriors fans laughed derisively from afar. They were no longer alone in feeling completely backstabbed. They now had each other.

Both fan bases undoubtedly share the same resentment, and even bitterness. But only because they’ve seen this happen too many times before. The Warriors and Clippers seem to share the saddest recent histories in the NBA – one complete with draft blunder after draft blunder, questionable-at-best free agency signings, catastrophic injuries (*cringe* Shaun Livingston) and other forgettable events (Latrell Sprewell, meet PJ Carlisemo).

Why us? Just as it seemed both franchises were turning the corner – the Clippers took the mighty Phoenix Suns to 7 games in the 2006 NBA Playoffs, coming within one win of a Conference Finals appearance, the Warriors sudden string of great draft picks and a perceived franchise-saving trade for Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington elevating them to perhaps the biggest upset in NBA playoff history (2007 NBA Playoffs) – reality strikes, and smites both teams to the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

In seasons past, it was easy to blame team ownership for the questionable decisions and leadership in both Golden State and Los Angeles. But in the last 4-5 years, these teams have actually done it right. They’ve made smart moves, good trades, intelligent draft picks, and the front office opened up its pockets to commit money to players who were worth it (Brand and Davis, for example). An observant NBA fan could predict the Warriors would continue to struggle when they drafted Todd Fuller with the 11th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, or when the Clippers selected Michael Olowokandi with the 1st overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, but why should these teams struggle now?

The Warriors drafted Jason Richardson, Gilbert Arenas and Troy Murphy – all in the same year (2001). The Clippers fleeced the Bulls on draft day that same year, acquiring Elton Brand for then-spare part Tyson Chandler and Brian Skinner. These teams were moving straight up, as sharply contrasted by the questionable moves made by the league’s once elite – the Mavericks’ regrettable late-season deal for Jason Kidd or the Suns catastrophic swap for Shaquille O’Neal, for example.

So why us? After days of thought, and years of cynicism and remorse as a Warriors fan, I can offer only one answer to the combined Clippers and Warriors Nation:

Same ol’ Warriors. Same ol’ Clippers. Maybe it’s time we got used to it.