NBA ALL-STAR GAME: West squad is an L.A. story

ORLANDO, Fla. - What might seem a milestone isn't so original to Kobe Bryant.

So while four players from Los Angeles starting on the NBA's West All-Star team tonight is a landmark to some it's not that noteworthy to Bryant, who points out L.A. always represents when the biggest stars in the league gather for their annual weekend extravaganza.

And this year is no different.

Well, aside from one key twist.

"They all used to be in Lakers uniforms," Bryant said.

Not anymore.

The Lakers still have a standard contingent with Bryant and first-time All-Star Andrew Bynum in the starting lineup, but they're joined this time by Staples Center neighbors Blake Griffin and Chris Paul from the Clippers to give L.A. four of the West's five starters.

For the Lakers, it's no big deal. From Jerry West and Elgin Baylor to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson to Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal and Pau Gasol, they've always been deeply connected to All-Star weekend.

But this is a very big deal for the Clippers, a tormented franchise for which the All-Star break typically meant a recess from a beleaguered season in which they were typically buried in the standings.

It rarely meant actually sending a player to the game, so to be represented by two this year marks a turning point for a franchise usually on the outside looking in at these events.

With it comes the assuredness they are on the verge of being consistent,

viable contenders not just for All-Star selections, but NBA championships.

They bring a better record into this break than the Lakers, and seemingly brighter playoff hopes with a more complete team, younger legs and considerably more athleticism.

And they have the attention of the Lakers.

"What the Clippers have done has been a great turnaround," Bryant said.

It's a healthy respect but also a begrudging one, a mood that's carried into the two meetings between

The Clippers' Blake Griffin, left, high-fives Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love, right, during practice for the NBA All Star Game on Saturday in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

the Lakers and Clippers this year.

Hard fouls have been the norm and sharp elbows aplenty.

And based the angry stares they share and the pointed comments directed at one another you get the feeling these two teams just don't like each other very much.

They might say emotions aren't heightened a bit when they play each other, but no one believes it, not the way they've gotten after it.

Besides, you don't share the same city and the same building and fight for the same fans and goals and not feel a little animosity toward the other guy, especially with the Clippers actually being relevant and the Lakers taking a step back from previous seasons.

Fact is, they get under each other's skin.

"It's definitely a rivalry," Bynum declared.

Which provides a neat little backdrop for today's game.

Can Bynum and Bryant set aside their differences with Griffin and Paul for the common goal of beating the East?

Can Paul share the ball with Kobe and Griffin communicate defensively with Bynum? You know, without tripping each other?

Can the Lakers and Clippers just get along?

Blake Griffin raised an eyebrow and clenched his jaw and when asked about it the other day.

"I guess I'm going to have to, huh?" Griffin said, feigning anger. "Our competitive nature will force us to set that aside and try to win the game. And then we can go back to the separation after that."

Griffin was kidding, of course.

For all the contentiousness on the court everyone agrees it's a byproduct of the fierce competiveness they share.

Two good teams, a handful of driven players and the shared objective of winning a championship make it almost inevitable emotions will overflow.

On the court.

"Off the court we're all friends," Bryant insists.

Griffin agrees, and even goes out of his way to downplay any rivalry between the Clippers and Lakers.

He does it out of respect, cognizant of the Clippers history relative to the Lakers and the fact they really haven't earned the right to call the Lakers their legitimate rivals.

"I think rivalries start when you play each other in the playoffs," Griffin

Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant, left, talks with the Clippers Chris Paul, right, during practice for the NBA All-Star Game. Durant is the only West starter not to come from an L.A.-based team. (Lynne Sladky/The Associated Press)

said. "I don't know the last time the Clippers were in the playoffs, I wasn't on the team, but that's when it starts. So that's not how we look at it."

Paul, in fact, dismissed any talk of a Clippers-Lakers feud.

On the growing rivalry, he said: "Right now, (the Battle of L.A.) is 1-1. We've played twice this season. We beat them once, they beat us once."

On potentially meeting them in the playoffs, he was nonchalant.

"It is what it is," he said. "If we were to play them, it sure would be interesting."

And playing alongside Bryant and Bynum today will be no big deal.

"It's cool. I've done it every year," Paul said. "It was me, Kobe, and Pau last year and the year before that."

The Lakers look at things a little differently, the result of years and years of fighting off various challengers around the league.

For them, everyone is a potential rival. From the Boston Celtics to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Lakers take on all challengers.

The Clippers, well they just never held up their end of the bargain, never fielded a team worthy of that kind of venom.

The Lakers wanted to beat them, but there was no great urge to embarrass them.

And typically the games unfolded before more Lakers fans than Clippers fans.

Rivalries are at their best when you don't just crush the opponent as you demoralize their fans, too.

"For a long time it was a game where Clipper fans were pretty quiet, they didn't really come out too hyped," Bynum said.

The addition of Griffin and Paul along with all the other young talent the Clippers changed that.

That's evident in the standings as well as the emotions on the court.

And it's no longer unusual to see Clippers fans out and about showing their love.

Game on, as far as the Lakers are concerned.

"It's a great game now," Bynum said.

In fact, it's a rivalry.

One they've put on hold.

"During the All-Star Game you get a chance to be around them and enjoy each other's company," Bryant said.

For a little while anyway.

"When we're playing on the court, competing, it's a different story," Bryant said.

Source: http://www.sgvtribune.com/lakers/ci_20047708?source=rss

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