The Los Angeles Staples Center is home to two National Basketball Association rival teams, the Lakers and the Clippers.

Both teams share the same arena for their home games, but the question is: Is L.A. a Lakers town or a Clippers town?

The Lakers moved from Minneapolis to L.A. in 1960, and the Clippers later followed from San Diego to L.A. in 1984.

The Lakers who are one of the most storied franchises in sports, have captured 16 NBA championships with their latest championship run in 2010. The Clippers, on the other hand, have had their struggles up until recent years, with the additions of power forward Blake Griffin and point guard Chris Paul.

“Los Angeles will always be a Lakers town until the Clippers win 16 championships, simple as that,” said Ethan Beard, 21, kinesiology major and avid basketball and Lakers fan.

The Lakers have had many Hall of Fame or soon to be Hall of Fame players play for their franchise such as, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’neal, and of course, Kobe Bryant.

Since the Clippers moved to L.A. in 1984 they have only made the playoffs a lowly six times. However, in the past two years the Clippers had better regular season records and have gone further in the playoffs than the Lakers, thanks to the help of point guard Chris Paul, power forward Blake Griffin, and coach Doc Rivers.

“Los Angeles is now a Clippers town,” said Jacob Bliss, 19, undecided major and Clippers fan. “Look at the Lakers record the past two or three years and tell me L.A. is not a Clippers town.”

Since 1984, the Lakers have won eight NBA championships and have made the playoffs 27 times out of a possible 30 times, while the Clippers have made it to the playoffs seven times, but have never made it past the second round of the playoffs.

“You can’t ignore history,” said Beard. “The Lakers are 16 time champions and have multiple player statues’ outside of Staples Center, what representation do the Clippers have?”

According to landofbasketball.com, since the Clippers moved to Los Angeles, the Lakers and Clippers have played against each other 99 times and the Lakers have a record of 98-37. The Lakers also have statues of Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Hall of Fame broadcaster Chick Hearn outside of Staples Center, and the Clippers have none.

“Lakers fans need to stop living in the past and start living in the present,” said Bliss.

Currently, the Lakers have a record of 1-7 and the Clippers have a record of 4-3.

However history does speak volumes and based on the history provided it is safe to say that L.A. is a Lakers town and will remain that way for years to come. The only way for the Clippers to be “L.A.’s team” is to win multiple championships.