Report: Clippers charter plane struck by lightning before February game

Youngmisuk wrote that it was a "cloudy afternoon" when the plane took off from the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) runway and "several players were napping" when the flight "took a sudden veer toward the left seconds into the air just above the Pacific Ocean."

"The Clippers' plane began to shake and rattle before a loud bang could be heard," Youngmisuk wrote. "Some staffers saw a flash on the right side of the aircraft as the engine went eerily silent for a moment before roaring back to life and filling the cabin with thunderous revving."

Per the ESPN report, veteran guard Eric Gordon said that the players were "trying to nap away," but "everybody was up after that for sure."

Youngmisuk added that the following week, as the Clippers were walking on the tarmac at LAX ahead of their charter flight to San Francisco to play the Golden State Warriors, it began hailing.

Los Angeles head coach Tyronn Lue said of the late-February flight scare and ensuing five-game losing streak "Our luck was so bad, we even got struck by lightning."

One day following the lightning strike, the Clippers lost to MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in overtime, before falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves at home and the Warriors and Kings on the road. Los Angeles has since won three straight against the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks.

Fortunately for Lue and company, they'll never have to play the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, however, they do have back-to-back home games against the Oklahoma City Thunder coming up on March 21 and March 23. At least they won't have to do any flying between those games.