Saturday, December 17, 2011

Jordan - CP3 V - Xmas Edition

Chris Paul wore these White on Red Jordan CP3 V's to his first day of Training Camp with the Clippers - and they look CLEAN! Check after the jump for the thoughts on the recent trade of a life long Clipper fan (ahem, me).


Thoughts on the trade: Man - I can't even front - this trade was initially hard to swallow. Watching the way the Clips grew during the 2nd half of the 2010-2011 season - I had high hopes for this 2011-2012 season - and truly believed the team could make the playoffs this year with last year's squad. When the rumors of obtaining the best point guard in the game today came up, I was excited. When I learned that the deal included Gordon, Bledsoe, Aminu, Kaman, AND Minnesota's 1st round pick - the excitement quickly faded - I just felt like we were giving up too much of the core of our team (2 starters) and our future (Bledsoe is an athletic speciment and beastly (remember the epic blocks against the Heat last year?), Aminu is an athletic, exciting wing, and who knows where Minny's pick would end up). I'm glad we ended up being able to keep Bledso, but the main pain was giving up Eric Gordon - one of the leauges best young 2 guards who is nowhere close to hitting his peak. Gordon really came in to his own last year as a go-to-guy down the stretch. At times I did feel a little tension between him and Blake to be 100% honest (a la Westbrook and Durant) - but I figured they'd work through it. At the end of the day - there was no guarantee that Gordon was going to re-sign with the Clippers, and yeah, Paul's knee is a risk, but Gordon hasn't exactly been 100% reliable either. All I know is, seeing CP3 in the Clippers uniform - even if it is just for 2 years as of today - releived all concern. I am confident this team has the pieces to succeed - and create a legacy all their own.

The wierdest question I keep getting is - "how is it going to be to see all these bandwagon Clipper fans"? To be honest - its not a concern. I didn't become a Clippers fan because no one else was, or because I love under-acheiving teams - that has nothing to do with it. I will miss the cheap tickets, and I will miss seeing someone else walking around in a Clipper shirt and feeling a shared understanding/mutual respect for each other (Clipper fans have been through a lot - let's be honest) - but I welcome new fans wholehartedly. I was here before they hopped on the bandwagon - and I'll be a proud member of Clipper Nation after.