The 2025-26 season is setting up to be an entertaining one, with teams out East like the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers looking to take advantage of injured teams and a loaded Western Conference that could have a handful of teams emerge as the representative in the NBA Finals.
After back-to-back seasons as the first seed in the Western Conference and finally winning the NBA title, the pressure is off the Oklahoma City Thunder for now. However, there are plenty of other teams around the league that should feel the pressure to win a title in 2026, and according to NBA Champion Danny Green, one Los Angeles team has more pressure than the other.
In a recent ranking video on Inside the Green Room with Danny Green, the three-time NBA Champion said that the Los Angeles Clippers have more pressure to win a title in 2026 than the Lakers. Ranking the Lakers as an honorable mention, he listed the Clippers as second on his top five list.
“They’re just old as h*** bro,” Green said. “And you’re keeping them together. You got James Harden, you paid him again. You got all these people, you have a very short window to win with Kawhi. There’s pressure for them to win, especially with the scrutiny they’re under right now, it just makes the trade look way worse…You haven’t won anything, you haven’t got to the finals.”
always smiling w/ this squad 😁
📍 Kaiser Permanente Training Center pic.twitter.com/oTPN5pFCBk
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) October 15, 2025
Green is referring to the 2019 Paul George trade, which sent now league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and multiple draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Obviously, the Thunder pulled out victorious in this deal, landing arguably two Top 20 players that should keep them as title contenders for as long as they remain teammates.
Clippers players to make the @ringer top 100
14 — Kawhi Leonard
24 — James Harden
37 — Ivica Zubac
95 — Bradley Beal pic.twitter.com/fCkmHFagHp
— LA Clippers Muse (@LAClippersMuse) October 15, 2025
The short answer: absolutely. The Lakers were NBA Champions recently in 2020, defeating the Miami Heat in the NBA Bubble. Even though they are one of the most popular teams in the NBA and have an aging LeBron James on their roster, the Lakers’ roster still isn’t in the best shape and is better suited for the future by building around Luka Doncic and potentially Austin Reaves.
For the Clippers, they truly have no long-term pieces, as Ivica Zubac is the only starter on the team who could realistically be on the roster in five years. Therefore, with all the aging veterans on this roster right now, the time is now to win. Even though they could have a contending roster in five years, the reality is that it might be the last chance for Kawhi Leonard and James Harden to win a title.
