Los Angeles Clippers: Paul, Griffin and Jordan Built for Championship Success

Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp brought swag to the game before anybody used that word as a descriptive in sports.

John Stockton and Karl Malone were the games best from the fundamentals of the pick and roll, but things have changed drastically in the NBA.

The game itself doesn't change, just the players.

And the tempo, speed, reaction times and well, you get the point.

The pick and roll isn't about a simple layup or jump shot any longer, and swag isn't even the word to describe Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

Paul is the catalyst of an offense that can pick and roll, pick and shoot or pick and dunk. 

Teams have to pick a poison with this three-headed monster of a team that's been appropriately termed "Lob City."

Paul is the floor leader and even he's still learning that when Griffin points upward for a lob, throw it because like Kemp, he's going to go and get it.  Anywhere you throw it Chris—anywhere.

Stockton and Malone, schoolboy on the surface but knowledgeable to the game's devious tactics, developed a chemistry that was only rivaled by Payton and Kemp.

With the Clippers trio, Paul is the secondary scorer and creative distributor.

Griffin and Jordan somewhat serve the same purpose in drastically different ways. 

Jordan sets picks at the top of the key with a noticeable anxiousness for either an alley-oop or a catch and dunk.  He doesn't set picks with the firmness or authority of Griffin and Malone, but the thunderous dunk of a finish is a crowd pleaser—home or away. 

Offensively Griffin sets picks with the authority of a country kid from Oklahoma and when he rolls for a dunk, get out the way.  Ask Kendrick Perkins.

Griffin, like Malone, has an array of spins and moves with his back to the basket and can face-up and shoot the open jumper with confidence.  While he's not the best shooter, his game has many facets and his 20-footer should be respected.   

Jordan is shot blocking guru and offensively, it's very simple—he's going to dunk.  That's all there is to it.  Dunk, block shots and miss free throws.  There's always room for improvement but Jordan is a key cog in this Ghidorah with Griffin and Paul.

With the newly acquired Kenyon Martin and the early additions of Paul, Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler, the Clippers have gone from exciting in Los Angeles but obscure everywhere else to real contenders for the championship and on the radar of fans and the NBA. 

Billups is a locker room commodity as he was a Finals MVP.  Martin is also an asset as he has been to the NBA Finals twice and Butler, although injured, was a part of the Dallas Mavericks Finals win last year.

There's championship experience in abundance on the roster.

Martin's attitude and demeanor along with Reggie "I'll bully anybody" Evans has given the Clippers bench some real enforcers in the paint to compliment Griffin and Jordan.

While other NBA teams are still contemplating moves, the Clippers have shown from the season's beginning that they are no longer an easy stop in a road trip and have a roster ready to compete with the leagues best.

This is truly a new era in Los Angeles.