Can the old Clippers really win the championship like this? Don’t forget the Lakers’ two previous lessons

The Clippers are undoubtedly one of the biggest winners in this year's offseason. They have successively obtained famous players such as Lopez, Paul, and Bill, and the team's depth has been strongly supplemented. However, correspondingly, the age of this Clippers seems to have reached the upper limit that fans can understand, which brings hidden concerns to their championship! How old is this Clippers?

Yahoo Sports NBA data expert Tom Haberstroh said that the average age of the Clippers' new season's lineup is 33.2 years old, and they will become the oldest team in history on record. The previous record was the Jazz in the 2000-2001 season (the average age of the whole team was 32 years old).

Among them, the eight major players of the Clippers are 277 years old, namely: Paul 40 years old; Lopez 37 years old; Batum 36 years old; Harden 35 years old; Leonard 34 years old; Bill 32 years old; Bogdanovic 32 years old; Dunn 31 years old. If possible, the Clippers can set up a lineup like this at some point: Paul (40), Harden (35), Kat (34), Batum (36), Daluo (37), and the average age of this lineup is 36.4 years old.

The famous mouth Perkins laughed: "Congratulations to Ballmer, congratulations to the Clippers, congratulations on becoming an NBA nursing home, specializing in accepting players at the end of their careers. The Clippers look very old. They can get enough points on the offensive end, but when the playoffs come, can they fight against the Rockets, Thunder, Nuggets and even the Lakers? I can't see it."

When talking about this topic, team president Frank believes that age is just a number, signing multiple elderly players can diversify risks, and the team has improved in lineup depth and flexibility, and head coach Tyron Lu can have more tactical choices. However, it cannot be ignored that the veterans' injury risks and physical fitness problems are huge hidden dangers, and core players such as Leonard and Bill have had hidden dangers in the past. The long regular season schedule is a huge test for their physical reserves and recovery abilities.

In fact, it is not unfamiliar to attract some long-standing stars and form a "elderly basketball team". As early as the 2021-22 season, the Lakers' lineup was seriously aging, and the average age of the team was close to 31 years old. The core lineup includes 37-year-old James, 38-year-old Anthony, 36-year-old Westbrook, 35-year-old Rondo, 33-year-old Thick Eyebrow, etc. This Lakers were once regarded as a favorite team for the championship, but their final record was surprising, and they didn't even get the playoff qualification, which made them a laughing stock.

Coincidentally, as early as the 2003-04 season, the Lakers formed another "elderly basketball team". This season, the Lakers have four All-Star players, O'Neal, Kobe, Carl Malone and Gary Payton, forming a luxurious F4 combination. Among them, Kobe is 26 years old, O'Neal is 32 years old, Payton is 36 years old, Malone is 41 years old, and the average age of the four cores is 33.75 years old. If Kobe hadn't lowered his average age, the average age of this lineup would have been even more terrifying. The Lakers were plagued by injuries in the playoffs and eventually lost to Washington 1-4 in the finals.

If you have to give a successful precedent, the Spurs in 2014 can be regarded as the best example of the 21st century. In the 2013-2014 season, the Spurs had veterans such as Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker. They faced the young Heat in the finals and successfully won the championship with tacit cooperation and stable performance at critical moments. However, when the Spurs won the championship, there were also young and outstanding players like Leonard. Therefore, if there are too many veterans to successfully provide configurations, the veteran needs to stay healthy and give full play to his experience advantages, and also need young players to provide vitality and support. And don’t forget that the GDP combination has played together for many years and won the championship trophy many times together. Their super tacit understanding is enough to make up for the impact of age.

In the past few seasons, the NBA has indeed become more and more advocating younger generations in recent years. Young players usually have better physical fitness, faster speed and stronger athleticism, which are particularly important in high-intensity playoffs. For example, the Thunder in 2025 won the NBA championship with their young core lineup; the Celtics in 2024 also have veterans like Horford and Holiday in the team, but the core duo are 26-year-old Tatum and 27-year-old Jaylen Brown.

In fact, under the premise that the combination of Harden and Leonard cannot move, the Clippers do not have many ways to strengthen, and they do not have enough capital to replenish young forces. In this case, adding some famous veterans is not only their active choice, but also their helpless move.

But no matter what, they all went on this path. The rich experience and lineup thickness of the veterans can indeed help the Clippers solve the problems of the past few seasons, but injuries and physical fitness cannot be ignored. We will know whether the Clippers’ choice is right or wrong in the new season.