It's Hip to Clip Again

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">EL SEGUNDO - They can't compare themselves to the Lakers when it comes to the star quotient of Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson or the championship banners and retired numbers that hang at Staples Center, the home they have come to share.
All that the Clippers, off to the best start in franchise history at 6-2, are hoping for tonight against the Lakers is the chance to prove that Los Angeles should embrace them. If they happen to lay claim to the title of the city's best NBA team in the process, so be it.

"I think we have a lot to accomplish to get to that level," forward Corey Maggette said. "Like I always say, the Lakers have so much tradition with wins and rings and we don't have any. I think the biggest statement is just to win every game, not just the Lakers, but every game we play."

After 20 years as second-class citizens, the Clippers will play one of their most anticipated games in recent memory. If this is the most talented team in franchise history, as general manager Elgin Baylor boasts, the first step in proving so will come against the Lakers.

"There are rumors going around saying we're no longer the best team in L.A.," Lakers guard Smush Parker said. "We're out to prove to L.A. fans that they're wrong.'

That the Clippers are even in this position, only 16 months after Bryant spurned them to re-sign with the Lakers, might be considered remarkable. The No. 8 jersey on the back of Clippers rookie Yaroslav Korolev is a prominent reminder of what could have been.

But after losing Bryant, the Clippers were anything but tight-fisted this summer, signing free-agent guard Cuttino Mobley to a five-year, $42 million contract and acquiring veteran Sam Cassell from Minnesota. What they ask for in return is only one thing.

It is for fans to forget the past, something easier said than done, considering the Clippers haven't finished with a winning record since 1993. Their identity has long been as losers, something Jackson said will be impossible to change in a season, let alone a game.

"They can't," Jackson said. "Your organizations start at the top and everybody knows that. And what the direction is and the desire is from that a lot of times is what spills out at the end result.

"I'm not saying anything about the direction the Clippers are (going) but they've always seemed to be content at a certain level of play. This time, they've made a commitment and it's good to see."

In his previous five years as Lakers coach, Jackson went 17-3 against the Clippers. The Lakers split last season's series with the Clippers, however, and finished with a worse record (34-48) than their crosstown counterparts for only the third time in two decades. </div>

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