Intro: One Day, One Game

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KINGS AT LAKERS FEBRUARY 28

ONE DAY, ONE GAME

WARRIORS AT CLIPPERS MARCH 12

WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA, WHERE THE BANNERS IN THE RAFTERS NO LONGER MATCH THE RESULTS DOWN BELOW. Not with the listless Lakers shaming their 16 titles by limping to the finish line. Not with the straight-shooting Doc Rivers navigating the once-hapless Clips through the West. Not with Stephen Curry’s perfect-as-can-be J launching the Warriors to new heights. Not with the Kings’ perpetually misunderstood DeMarcus Cousins promising an end to the franchise’s 62-year title drought. (Okay, there’s still a little work left on that last one.) So forgive us as we tweak our One Day, One Game franchise ever so slightly. This one’s One State, One Arena. It’s Two Days, Two Games. It’s Two Contenders, Two Pretenders. It’s Four Rivals from the One Conference worth a damn this season. This is California basketball, in all its dysfunctional glory. (Black Mamba sold separately.)

photograph by KOHJIRO KINNO; logo by STUDIO BLACK

04/14/2014 ESPN The Magazine

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