The city of Los Angeles has been the center of the sports world for the last couple of seasons as the Los Angeles Dodgers have made the World Series two straight season while the Los Angeles Rams were in the Super Bowl last season.
Now, after all of the offseason moves made, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are the two favorites to bring home a championship for the 2019-20 NBA season and the recently retired Dwyane Wade agrees with that sentiment.
A longtime friend of LeBron James, Wade now resides in Los Angeles after finishing up his career with the Miami Heat. He has already said he will be helping out James by working out with him prior to games, so he undoubtedly has a dog in the race.
Nonetheless, Wade has been enjoying his retirement in Los Angeles, soaking in the entire sports scene while also offering up a 2020 NBA Finals prediction to Arash Markazi of Los Angeles Times:
“I think L.A. sports is in an amazing place right now with football, basketball, baseball and even high school sports, and I look forward to being a fan and rooting all these teams on,” Wade said. “Obviously with LeBron being on the Lakers, I have a dog in the fight, but you have the Lakers and Clippers, two of the best teams in the league and the hottest tickets in town. People want to go watch both of these teams because they’re both in the running to come out of the West and play in the Finals. They could play each other in the Western Conference finals, which would be great. Golden State still has the heart of a champion with everyone they have coming back, but I think L.A. is going to win the championship.”
Wade didn’t really specify which Los Angeles team would win the championship but considering where his loyalties lie, there is no doubt he’s pulling for the Lakers and his best friend. Needless to say, Los Angeles is the center of the basketball world right now and everyone will be watching closely this entire season.
The Lakers and Clippers rivalry has always been slightly overblown but with Kawhi Leonard spurning the Lakers to join the Clippers, there could be some real hostility now.
With James and Anthony Davis in purple and gold going against Leonard and Paul George on the other side, it will definitely be the biggest matchup to watch — which is exactly why the league scheduled the two teams for Opening Night and Christmas Day.
