Lakers–Clippers rivalry

The Lakers–Clippers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. The two Pacific Division teams both play their home games in the Greater Los Angeles area, thus inspiring their matchups to sometimes be called the "Battle of L.A." The Lakers originally relocated from Minneapolis in 1960, while the Clippers moved from San Diego in 1984 after previously moving to San Diego from Buffalo, New York, while going away from the original Buffalo Braves name in 1978. While Los Angeles fans have historically favored the Lakers, the Clippers have sold out or filled capacity for every home game at Staples Center since Feb. 2011 and entered the 2016–17 season with the sixth-longest active sellout streak in the NBA, which continued up until the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lakers have won 12 of their 17 NBA championships since moving to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the Clippers are the oldest franchise in North American professional sports to have never appeared in a championship game. Some contended that the term rivalry was inaccurate due to the Lakers historical success and the Clippers historical lack of success. In the 2012–13 season, the Clippers won the first of six straight season series against the Lakers.

The Lakers hold a 107–66 advantage in the all-time series since the Clippers moved to Los Angeles. The two teams have never met in the playoffs. The Lakers lost a 3–1 series lead and failed to advance to the Western Conference semifinals against the Clippers in 2006, while the Clippers also lost a 3–1 lead against the Denver Nuggets in 2020, nixing a conference finals matchup with the eventual NBA champion Lakers.

From the creation of Crypto.com Arena (known then as Staples Center) in 1999, the Lakers and Clippers shared the arena, when their matchups were sometimes called the "Hallway Series". The Clippers moved to Intuit Dome in Inglewood in 2024, while the Lakers remained at Crypto.com.