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Letters: Sudden ending for the Clippers

Clippers forward Blake Griffin reacts after Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (not pictured) made a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter of Game 7.

Clippers forward Blake Griffin reacts after Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (not pictured) made a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter of Game 7.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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The Clippers win 56 games and beat the Spurs in the playoffs. The Lakers had a horrible season, finishing with the fourth-worst record in the league. Everyone is now excited about the Lakers because they got the second pick in the draft, and are dumping on the Clippers because they lost to Houston. Life is indeed back to normal.

Ralph S. Brax

Lancaster

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I’m sure that there will be a time when the Clippers make it to the Western Conference finals, or even the NBA Finals, with a chance to win a title. In the meantime, if they are to start their own cable channel in the near future, a la the Lakers and Dodgers, it should be called SportsNotYet LA.

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Larry Herrera

Redondo Beach

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Does anyone have the date to attend the Clippers’ Western Conference quarterfinals championship banner-raising ceremony?

Joe Nadeau

Santa Clarita

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The Clippers need four things for next season: a new GM, new bench players, new uniforms and a new name.

Bill Nuss

Brentwood

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So Bill Plaschke thinks the Clippers are cursed. Does he also believe in fairies, elves, goblins and witches? The Clippers had their best year ever, beat a great team in the first series and almost a favored one in the second. Along the way they provided lots of chills and thrills.

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I expect they will put more of the pieces together and have an even better year next year. But, Bill, this isn’t based on me having a crystal ball.

Greg Dahlen

Glendale

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Plaschke got it all wrong. To talk about a curse is ridiculous superstition and doesn’t belong in an intelligent description of what happened. Also, how about saying how good they did all season long and how they got this far having beaten the team that won the whole thing last year? Yeah they lost against the Rockets — so what? They tried their best and it didn’t work. That’s how sports are. Sometimes you just don’t win. It’s not the end of the world, it’s just a game.

Gerald Orcholski

Pasadena

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I am not a big fan of the Clippers. Their only charm, to me, is that they aren’t the Lakers. But Bill Plaschke really needs to lighten up. The Clippers are what — fifth- or sixth-best team in the world? If that’s the worst disappointment L.A. suffers this year, I would say things are going pretty well.

I am perfectly content to let Mr. Ballmer and his minions work on the problem while I worry about the stuff I can control. I would suggest that Mr. Plaschke do the same.

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Arthur O. Armstrong

Manhattan Beach

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If I were Doc Rivers, I’d leave the Lakers’ banners uncovered next season as a reminder to his team of their poor play and what they still don’t have. That said, Chris Paul and the entire team showed class in the end by making a point of going up to Houston players and congratulating them.

Nonetheless, the Clippers should remember: The Rockets didn’t win, the Clippers lost.

Michael Solomon

Canoga Park

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Just over a year ago, the Clippers were wearing their warmup suits inside out to protest their racist owner. Now, they nearly advance to the conference finals under fresh new ownership.

If, as Bill Plaschke purports, this is a “curse,” may all of our lives be blessed with more curses.

Michael Miyamoto

Mission Viejo

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That wasn’t an earthquake Sunday afternoon, that was all those Clippers fans jumping off their bandwagon.

Phil Trujillo

Ontario

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Chris Paul and Blake Griffin may be doomed to be the modern-day equivalent of John Stockton and Karl Malone, two future Hall of Fame teammates and during their era, the best point guard and power forward in the game, who nevertheless failed to win an NBA championship.

Tom Lallas

Los Angeles

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An epic playoffs choke spells doom for a Los Angeles pro sports team?

Share this history lesson with Clippers detractors: The Dodgers lost the 1962 NL pennant to the Giants in the final playoff game’s ninth inning, when their pitchers blew a two-run lead. Yet the boys in blue regrouped to sweep the Yankees in the 1963 World Series.

Keep the faith, Clippers fans, a new season soon dawns.

Devra Mindell

Santa Monica

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Don’t tell me DeAndre Jordan is worth a max contract. He has had six or seven years to improve his free-throw shooting and learn how to shoot and hasn’t gotten any better. Contrast that with how much Blake Griffin has improved. Griffin is a star and Jordan is a hack the other team loves to hack.

Robert Bubnovich

Irvine

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Sorry, Steve Ballmer, all sales are final. No refunds.

Jerry Selby

Pasadena

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So the Clippers lose again in the playoffs. Ah, let’s just blame Donald Sterling. . .

Ron Rusillo

Redondo Beach

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I guess some kind of formal thank you is due the Clippers for keeping L.A.’s fans mildly interested during the lost Lakers years. But your 15 minutes are up. Good luck in the lottery next year.

Marty Foster

Ventura

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If the Lakers’ pick turns into the next Shaquille O’Neal or Kobe Bryant, Mitch Kupchak will be celebrated for his brilliance. If the pick turns out to be a failure, Jim Buss will cement his spot as one of the worst executives in sports.

Jim Buss is the main reason why the Clippers lost to the Rockets and why we can’t see the Dodgers in L.A. If you don’t believe me, ask Magic Johnson.

Willis Barton

Los Angeles

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That was a kind of classless statement by Magic Johnson that the Clippers are still the Clippers.

Perhaps he’s just upset that the Lakers are no longer the Lakers.

Ron Reeve

Glendora

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Mitch and Jimmy, please call Jerry West for consolation on whom to select with the No. 2 pick. This one is too important to screw up.

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Amos Evans

View Park

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I kind of liked it better when the Lakers drafted around number 30.

Jim B. Parsons

Carpinteria

Little is written here about your consistently great photography, a key ingredient in quality journalism. So it must be pointed out that Wally Skalij’s photo of DeAndre Jordan walking off the court after the Clippers’ collapse, and your large presentation of it, was absolutely stunning.

Truly a picture worth 1,000 words.

Pete Howard

San Luis Obispo

This is serious

It’s getting very annoying how the Dodgers seem to play like a bad Little League team when they face the Giants. Yasmani Grandal said, “It’s going to happen, it might as well be now.”

Let me tell you something, Yas my man, this is the Dodgers and Giants, and it’s no time to not show up. Perhaps Andrew Friedman has thrown together so many new faces here that they know nothing of this rivalry? Certainly our illustrious manager is also lost on this issue.

Bruce Alan

Granada Hills

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Don Mattingly needs to talk to Lane Kiffin about the importance of beating your hated rivals on a consistent basis.

Rich Hardt

Long Beach

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Getting shut out shouldn’t be too difficult for the Dodgers to take. Seventy percent of their local fans have experienced it for a couple of seasons.

Kenny Wolin

Studio City

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The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.

Mail: Sports Viewpoint

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