Clippers Will Hide Lakers' Banners at Staples Center Home Games

The Los Angeles Clippers are redecorating the Staples Center this year, and they're starting with the drapes.

Well, technically, they're banners. But you get the idea.

According to Phillip Barnett of LakersNation.com, the Clips will cover up the Los Angeles Lakers' championship banners during home games this year. So instead of 16 purple and gold reminders of the Lakers' historical dominance, fans attending Clippers games will get to see the giant faces of Blake Griffin and friends.

Los Angeles Times reporter Brad Turner made that news official, per Doc Rivers:

Depending on your perspective, that's either a massive improvement or a personal affront. Hey, try to guess how Lakers fans are taking the news! If you said "not well," you're correct.

Let's all just calm down, shall we? The Clippers should get to play in a home arena that actually looks like one. Plus, it's kind of a sad statement about the Lakers' position in LA when their fans defensively cling to the past like that.

I get it: It's hard for Lakers' loyalists to come to grips with a world in which the Clippers are far and away the best basketball team in Los Angeles. But there's no reason to get all whiny about it.

Besides, this is better (and less spiteful) than the Clips' last idea.

I mean, there's no way they could have fit 50 banners up there, right?

All right, that was a low blow. In all seriousness, there's nothing wrong with what the Clippers are doing. They've got a new coach, the best roster they've ever had and a legitimate chance to make a run at a championship. A team that good shouldn't have to feel like guests at their own home games.

And if it stirs up a little excitement among LA fans, all the better.