If you’re unfamiliar with Southern California traffic, let this be your introduction. Clippers television play-by-play man Ralph Lawler missed the Clippers-Spurs game on Wednesday night because he was stuck in a massive traffic jam. Apparently Lawler commutes from La Quinta to Downtown Los Angeles for games, a 135-mile, two and a half hour drive each way.
Don’t ask why anyone would make such a commute (unless you’re Kobe Bryant and taking a helicopter to games), but Lawler got screwed in the day-long huge pileup on I-10. The freeway was jammed from 7am on because of separate accidents between Cabazon and Palm Springs that resulted in two fatalities.
Lawler has been broadcasting Clippers games for 31 years, dating back to their days in San Diego. Just his luck that he didn’t make it to the arena to see the Clippers beat the Spurs 90-85. That was the first win by the Clippers over the Spurs since March 7, 2006 — a span of 18 losses. The Clips now have just four wins on the season, but they’ve come against some of the league’s best teams — the Hornets, Thunder, Spurs and Kings. I guess you need a winning percentage of at least .800 to get the Clippers’ attention.
