In Southern California, as well as the rest of the nation, with the exception of New England, the Los Angeles Lakers are generally seen as the gold standard of basketball. The Los Angeles Clippers, on the other hand, are seen as the Lakers' ugly step-brothers, despite the measure of success they have had in recent years. Lakers fans don't think highly of Clippers fans, and the reverse is also likely true. Now that Mark Walter's majority share in the Purple and Gold is set to be sold to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, fans are coming to grips with an admission Iger made not too long ago. In 2021, he appeared on the "Old Man and the Three" podcast, which was co-hosted by JJ Redick, who is now the Lakers' head coach. During that appearance, Iger admitted that he was a Clippers fan, and the reason for that had to do with the original NBA team he rooted for -- the New York Knicks.
"I'm a Clippers fan," Iger said. "Having moved from New York to Los Angeles back in 2000 and being a big NBA fan, I needed a team to root for. And in my youth, the Lakers were a big rival of the Knicks, the team that I grew up rooting for, and so I couldn't root for the Lakers very easily. It just was not in my DNA. So I decided to adopt the Clippers, which was actually a good thing because their seats were a lot cheaper than the Lakers."
Redick also said during that episode of the podcast that Iger "was sitting courtside for nearly every home game" when Redick played for the Clippers from 2013 to 2017. Iger also has a documented friendship with Chris Paul, the now-retired future Hall of Fame point guard who was traded to the Clippers just prior to the 2011-12 season and remained there until 2017. There are now reports that Paul could be a name to watch as far as someone the incoming Lakers' ownership could hire in some capacity. As long as Iger and Kushner make winning championships their top priority with the Lakers, even more so than revenue and profits, fans may not mind much that the former Walt Disney Corporation CEO once rooted for L.A.'s "other" NBA team. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Incoming Lakers co-owner Bob Iger once admitted he was a Clippers fan