Staples Center honcho Lee Zeidman cleared that the Los Angeles Clippers weren't trolling their intra-city rivals Los Angeles Lakers by turning the purple-and-gold's locker room to Steve Ballmer's hangout area during Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. As a matter of fact, the Clippers owner was granted a permit by the Lakers to use the space prior to the ballgame.
In an interview with TMZ, Zeidman clarified that there was an arrangement between the Lakers and the Clippers for Ballmer's use of the former's locker room for the entire postseason. He believed the rumors implicating the Clippers of insulting the Lakers' woeful season is wrong because both teams have shown genuine respect to each other despite their intense rivalry in Los Angeles.
"People are trying to make something out of this, as if the Clippers are pissing off the Lakers by using their locker room. That's not true at all. We'd never use the Lakers space without asking the team," Zeidman claimed.
The Clippers finished the regular-season with a 56-26 record to clinch the no.3 seed in the Western Conference, pitting them against the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in a best-of-seven first round series. On the other hand, the Lakers finished in the bottom of the Pacific division with a 21-61 record - which by far the worst record in franchise storied history.
Ever since the arrival of Blake Griffin and then Chris Paul, the Clippers have become a regular fixture in the playoffs, becoming an instant eye-candy for basketball fans in Los Angeles with their high-flying acts and high-octane offense. The Lakers, on the other hand, have been terrible the past two seasons, recording back-to-back losing seasons and breaking all sorts of records in a wrong way.