Usually, when teams load up on veterans, they are trying to make one final push for a title. It is a common all-in move. But through the course of history, that move has failed to produce consistent success. The Los Angeles Clippers have a chance to make history in so many different ways this upcoming season. With the whole league trying to go younger and more athletic, the Clippers will have one of the oldest rosters next season.
The Clippers Are About to Do What’s Only Happened 6 Times
On the last episode of the Hoop Collective, Brian Windhorst threw an amazing stat. If we look at the Clippers’ 11-man rotation, their youngest player will be 28 years old when next season starts. That is John Collins. So far, teams have played an 11-man rotation in a single game with the youngest player being 28 years old only six times. Here is Brian’s statement per their stats guy (10:48 in the video),
“The Clippers’ rotation, this 11 deep that you’re talking about, the youngest of them is John Collins, who’s going to be 28 before the start of the season. So, those 11 guys, the youngest guy will be 28. And only two other teams have ever used 11 players in a game in a single game, not in your rotation, that are that old that were where the youngest guy was 28. And that was the Clippers in 2016-17, which I think Chris Paul was in that he was older than 28, which happened for one game. Yes. And in 1998-99, the Miami Heat did it for five games. So it’s happened, it’s happened six times in the history of the league where you’ve had every 11 guys 28 or older.”
Considering that the Clippers will probably rely on their deep rotation to get them through the regular season, they might play 11 guys 28 years or older in more than six games this season alone. That has happened only six times before in the history of the league. This summer, they added Paul, Bradley Beal, and Brook Lopez to what was already an experienced team with James Harden and Kawhi Leonard.
Can the Los Angeles Clippers Rewrite History?
History is not kind with the Los Angeles Clippers and their hopes to win a title. Of the eight oldest teams ever, only one has won a championship title. Usually, when teams gather old stars for a final push, they flame out and lose early. For example, the oldest team per average age was the 2000-01 Utah Jazz. They had Karl Malone, John Stockton, John Starks, and Bryon Russell. While they won 53 games in the regular season, they lost in the first round to the Dallas Mavericks.
Another example is the 1997-98 Houston Rockets with Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Drexler and Olajuwon have won a title before, but Barkley hoped to get that elusive ring. They finished 41-41 in the regular season and lost in the first round to the Utah Jazz.
Out of the eight oldest rosters, the only one that has finished with a championship ring are the Last Dance version of the Chicago Bulls in 1997-98. They had a 32.14 weighted average age, but with Michael Jordan leading the way, they won 62 games in the regular season. They capped their year with a championship title over the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals.
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