“Hell no I’m not rooting for the Clippers!”: Shaquille O’Neal hilariously refuses to side with Kawhi Leonard and co even after the Lakers first round exit

Shaquille O’Neal emphatically claims that he will never root for the Los Angeles Clippers even though the Lakers have been booted. 

In a strange turn of events, two teams that were labelled as the Western Conference favorites going into this postseason have been struggling/ have struggled in the in their respective series. The Los Angeles Laker fell to the Suns in 6 games, much to Shaquille O’Neal’s disappointment, and the Clippers have gone down 0-2 once again, this time to the Utah Jazz. 

With the Lakers out of the Playoffs, the Clippers have a real chance at becoming the ‘alpha-dogs’ of Los Angeles and living up to Kawhi Leonard’s New Balance advert from 2019. However, despite having all the pieces that they would need blow teams right out the gate, they have failed to capitalize on any opportunities.

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The way these 2021 Playoffs have been going, it feels as though Steve Balmer’s squad will never emerge from the purple and gold’s shadow. Shaquille O’Neal, for this reason along with others, claims he will not be supporting the ‘other Staples Center team’. 

Shaquille O’Neal says there’s no way in hell he’ll be rooting for the Clippers. 

Spending 8 years with the greatest franchise in the history of the league and winning 3 straight Finals MVPs with them should bring about a sense of allegiance to them. Shaquille O’Neal continues to rep the purple and gold far into his retirement as he scoffs at the idea of jumping ship and landing onto the Clips bandwagon. 

“Hell no!” @RKHorry and @SHAQ say they’re still not rooting for the Clippers after the Lakers’ playoff elimination 🤣

‘The Big Podcast with Shaq’: https://t.co/c5wVdDXbFg pic.twitter.com/KTilpV8XOd

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 11, 2021

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Robert Horry was a bit more emphatic with his disapproval as he claimed the Los Angeles Clippers do not belong in Staples Center; an arena that boasts 17 Lakers championship banners and 0 Clippers banners. 

Shaquille O’Neal has always been very vocal about his love for the Lakers, and rightfully so as the best years of his career took place in TinselTown alongside the late, great Kobe Bryant. Though he did win a chip with D-Wade in Miami, the joy of winning 3 straight in the biggest city on the West coast is a different feeling all together. 

With the Clippers being down 0-2 to the Utah Jazz, even die-hard Clips fans may look to abandon such a franchise and move over to the more accomplished one, especially if Kawhi and co would get booted from the 2nd round yet again.