Nearly a decade-and-a-half ago a Los
Angeles and Palmdale, CA native competed against each other on the AAU (Amateur
Athletic Union) basketball circuit. They then battled against each other for
two seasons playing for opposing universities in the Mountain West Conference.
They were drafted to the same team one year apart with the soon to be two-time
Finals MVP being dealt on draft night to the he helped to lead to their fifth
NBA crown. Yesterday those two players who have become to of the best not just
at the wing position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) but two of
the best in the entire league were introduced as the newest members of a team
that hopes to make a serious run at their first NBA championship in franchise
history.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Los Angeles
Clippers held their introductory press conference to introduce their newest
additions in two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who just led the Toronto
Raptors to their first Larry O’Brien trophy in their 24-year history.
To put into perspective how big of a
moment this was for this franchise, a mural was made outside of the recreation
center that Leonard and George did an interview with the host of ESPN’s “NBA:
The Jump” Rachel Nichols after their introductory presser.
“It feels great,” George, who averaged
career-highs of 28.0 points (2nd NBA), 8.2 rebounds and a league-leading 2.2 steals on 44
percent shooting in the 2018-19 regular season said to Nichols about being a
Clipper officially, adding about the symbolism of the mural, “I think seeing
that kind of solidified it. Opening that chapter of this new journey that we’re
going on.”
Leonard, who averaged career-highs of 26.6
points (6th NBA), 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals (7th NBA) on 50 percent from the field added, “Still
kind of surreal. Just able to have Paul on my team and even just being back
home and playing, it’s a great experience.”
“It’s probably going to be my first time
playing with an elite player of his level around the same age as me. Same
talent and, you know, I’m excited to play. I can’t wait until training camp
starts you know. Get into season mode, put on the jersey, passing him (George)
the ball, just talking on the floor. I’m excited.”
Leonard three-time All-Star was signed by
the Clippers on July 10 on a three-year, $103.1 million deal, which includes a
player option for the 2021-22 season.
“The front office is very transparent with
me,” Leonard said. “They want to win, want to win again, and just an
opportunity for us to just build our own. To make history. They haven’t been to
an (NBA) Finals. They haven’t won a Finals. So, that was something big an
exciting for me to, you know, make my decision.”
Alongside Leonard, Clippers’ Owner Steve
Ballmer, Head Coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers and Team President Lawrence Frank at the
introductory presser was the other new addition in six-time All-Star and five-time
All-NBA selection (four-time Third-Team), with him making the First-Team this
past season swingman Paul George, who was acquired from the Oklahoma City
Thunder officially on July 10, in exchange for lead guard Shai
Gilgeous-Alexander; forward Danilo Gallinari, First-Round picks in 2022, 2024
and 2026; two First-Round picks via the Miami Heat (2021 and 2023) and the
right to swap First-Round picks in 2023 and 2025.
This upcoming NBA season, the 2019-20
campaign will be the golden 50th for the Clippers, their 36th
in the “City of Angels.” They have made the playoffs 11 times, with seven of
those coming in the last eight seasons. They have made it to the Semifinals of
the Western Conference playoffs three times (2012, 2014 and 2015) only to lose
in a four-game sweep to the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs the spring
of 2012; the Thunder in the spring of 2014 in six games and to the Houston
Rockets in seven games one year later, after leading the series 3-1.
Last season, the Clippers went 48-34 and
made the playoffs as the No. 8 Seed in the rugged Western Conference after a
one-year absence and gave a herculean effort against the then back-to-back
defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the opening-round before
falling in six games.
The Clippers used a gritty, focused,
undeterred mindset in that playoff series and throughout the entire season that
got them to the playoffs and what they brought to the hardwood was something
that George said he is looking forward to.
“To be a part of that, you know,
comradery. To be a part of what they already had. Just sprinkling what we have
to offer that’s what made it such an attractive spot for me to be at,” George
said on Wednesday.
To many people it seems remarkable that
the Clippers in their prior 49 seasons they have not gone beyond the Semis in
the postseason. On the other hand, it is not all that unthinkable considering
who used to run the organization prior to Mr. Ballmer in disgraced owner Donald
Sterling and how often he ran the organization.
For years the Clippers were often called
the “little brother” to the 16-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, which is
very much and understatement considering how the two L.A. teams fortunes have
gone over these past 30-plus decades.
That is what made the introductory presser
of Leonard and George such a proud and remarkable moment.
It was not just the fact that the Clippers
signed and acquired two of the elite players in the game to help them compete
for the first Larry O’Brien trophy this upcoming NBA season, it was the famed
“thumbs up;” “stamp of approval” that the organization, and all the hard work
them smartly and wisely compiling assets from signing players to salary cap
friendly contracts and acquiring draft picks to pull off the precise trade they
would need to lure the NBA’s biggest prize in the 2019 free agent market to
pick them over their more glamorous and accomplished rival. To have both
players, in this case Leonard and George stand up on stage with the brass of
the organization talk about how the team itself from the front office to the
roster itself; the culture of the team and its reputation was a major part of
the reason they came. A notion that would have been laughable, out loud
laughable in years past.
The only laughing that was taking place
yesterday came from Mr. Ballmer, the team’s owner since Christmas 2014 who in
his trademark high energy, enthusiastic fashion expressed the kind of joy one
would show when you just signed as mentioned a player in Leonard, who along
with Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and current Laker LeBron James are just
one of three players in NBA history to win Finals MVP with two different
franchises and a player in George, who not only led the NBA in steals per game
a season ago, but is a four-time All-Defensive selection.
“I have these notes, but I got to say ‘I’m
just fired up to be here today. Pretty cool. Pretty damn cool,” Ballmer said to
the media in attendance while enthusiastically clapping his hands and letting
out a “Whoo!”
“I’m pumped to say hello as Clippers to
Paul and Kawhi. Common! Common! Common! Get up! Get up if you are as excited as
I am,” Ballmer said very enthusiastically.
While there is enthusiasm and jubilation in
L.A., there is a sense of disappointment and sadness in both Toronto, Canada
Oklahoma City, OK because two players who were very important parts of the
Raptors for Leonard and George of the Thunder respectably are no longer there
and their prospects for this season and beyond completely changed.
The Raptors went from being a Top 3 team
in the Eastern Conference and a very good possibility to repeat as champions
are just another team in the East hoping to make the playoffs. In the case of
the Thunder, who just recently traded 2017 Kia MVP and perennial All-Star
Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets to be reunited with 2018 Kia MVP James
Harden for nine-time All-Star Chris Paul are a possible playoff team in the rugged
Western Conference, but are more than likely a team that will be in the lottery
for the next few seasons.
In the case of George, he told Nichols
that from him being in OKC for a long time as he re-signed on a four-year deal
last summer to now he was traded to the Clippers that it was a “mutual, you
know, respect amongst myself; amongst Russ; amongst Sam [GM Presti] Mr. Clay
Bennett [Thunder owner].”
“We were all on the same page. This was
nothing that came out of the blue. The initial plan was to give it another year
and see what we can do. I did that, played another. I felt like we were just
stagnant. The next thing was let’s go for it and go on with other plans.”
George also said to Nichols about when he
and Westbrook talked about this being the time to break ties and go their separate
directions that it was an “easy conversation.”
It was a man-to-man conversation where both
understood where the other was coming from. Westbrook George said he was happy
for him doing what was best for him and his career.
While the Clippers plan to get Leonard
worked out, he was very close to re-signing with the Raptors or possibly
signing with the Lakers to join forces with four-time Kia MVP LeBron James and
perennial All-Star Anthony Davis, who the Lakers acquired earlier this summer.
As Leonard said to Nichols, he was “very
close.” When the Clippers though presented the opportunity of them getting George
to play alongside him it was very easy for him to say “yes” to signing with
L.A.’s other team.
Leonard’s decision was so big that at the
start of free agency this summer that media helicopters were following his
every move he made when he was back in Toronto, Ontario.
He said to Nichols that he really did not understand
what all the hoopla was about. That he was not going to come out to those fans
that were standing outside his hotel to make a big announcement.
Leonard took it all in stride and felt very
appreciative of the year he had in helping the Raptors win their first Larry O’Brien
trophy.
For Leonard, he based his decision, which
ultimately was the Clippers on going to a team where he and his family was going
to be happy. A team that had some serious pedigree in the front office.
The possibility of Leonard and George joining
forces as Nichols pointed out on the Thursday edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter”
came up as earlier as the summer of 2017 when George wanted out from the Indiana
Pacers and wanting to be traded to the Lakers.
Leonard and George known of each other
since they played against each other as youngsters in AAU and when they played
in the Mountain West Conference as collegians when Leonard played for San Diego
State University and George played for Fresno State at the close of the first
decade of the 2000s.
One year after the Pacers drafted George
No. 10 overall in the 2010 draft, the Pacers selected Leonard No. 15 overall one
year later.
Along with coming home and playing for a
great organization, both Leonard and George will have a chance to play in front
of the most important people in their lives, their families.
In the case of George, his mother Mrs.
Paulette whose has had health issues recently has not been able to travel to
OKC to see here son play said to Nichols this decision “means a lot.”
George, the father of two daughters with
Daniela Rajic said when he was a Fresno State, his parents would make the
three-hour drive on every game day to come see their son play and were super supportive.
“My parents, my mom and Dad [Paul, Sr.] both
ever since I was little watched all my games and made it to every game,” he
said. “So, I think at this point in my career that’s me giving back to them. That
they can continue on what they started with catching every game and being their
full support.”
When Coach Rivers came to the Clippers in
the summer of 2014, he was brought over to get the Clippers to the top of the
NBA mountain with All-Stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and then starting
center DeAndre Jordan.
Rivers said to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne
after the press conference that threesome had some baggage that kept them from
achieving the lofty goal of winning a title. The group that he has now with the
additions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George is a team that wanted to be
together. That wants to make their own legacy together, which they are all very
excited to do.
Shelburne also said that Coach Rivers
drove down to Delmar, CA last week where Leonard resides and the two talked for
two hours about the roster of him and George, along with new additions in
Rodney McGruder and Maurice Harkless and the other key players on the roster in
guard Patrick Beverly, forward JaMychal Green and center Ivica Zubac, who all re-signed with the Clippers earlier
this summer, and Kia Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, sharp shooter Landry
Shamet and forward/center Montrezl Harrell.
Leonard mentioned in his conversation with
Rivers that success only will come if he is coached hard and at times is going
to need to hear what he needs to be told about his play when it is good and
when it is not living up to what he is capable of.
That early success these next couple of
years will dictate if Leonard and George finish their careers with the Red,
White and Blue of the Clippers as they can opt out of their contracts and
become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2022.
For Leonard and George, they said to
Nichols that a team with them on the court together will be one that plays on
both ends of the court, especially at the defensive end. That is unselfish and
does whatever it takes to win.
“You’re going to see us compete on the
defensive end for sure,” Leonard told Nichols.
George added that the Clippers with them
on the hardwood will be a team that will have,” grit. Toughness and grit.”
On Wednesday was the official welcoming of
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers family and it was a
warm welcome for two California natives who hope to bring championship glory to
L.A.’s other team as they embark on their 50th season in franchise
history.
As Lakers Insider for ESPN Dave McMenamin
said on Thursday’s edition of “NBA: The Jump” about Leonard and George, “Their
excellent players in the prime of their careers. They play both ways. If you’re
gonna start with foundational pieces in 2019 NBA, where its position less
basketball…this is a blueprint on of how you would like to start with your two
best players.”
The Clippers from top to bottom understand
though that this journey will not be an easy one and it will take all of them
being in a cohesive, focused mindset for their dream to become NBA champions a
reality.
“This is still not over yet,” Leonard said
of the long road ahead for the Clippers to be NBA champions. “We still, all
three of us got to get in a room. Not just us three. It’s going to be a team
effort making this work. The 15th guy on the bench has to be in that
room as well to know what he needs to do as well, his role.”
George added, “I’m not a guy that come in
with an ego. With, you know, that, ‘I’m the man.’”
“I want to be a part of something special.
I want to help build something special, and it’s surreal to be home and do it
for a team that I grew up and wanted to be a part of ever since they missed out
on me in the draft, but that’s another story.”
Information, statistics, and quotations
are courtesy of 4/16/19 https://heavy.com
story, “Daniela Rajic, Paul George’s Girlfriend: 5 Fast Facts;” 7/24/19 6 p.m. edition
of ESPN’s “Sportscenter” with Kevin Negandhi and Sage Steele, with reports from
Ramona Shelburne and Rachel Nichols; 7/25/19 3 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “NBA: The
Jump” with Rachel Nichols, Malika Andrews, and Dave McMenamin; https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26914752/2019-nba-free-agency-latest-buzz;
https://www.nba.com/draft/2019/trade-tracker;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawhi_Leonard; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_George ;and http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Los_Angeles_Clippers_seasons. .
No comments:
Post a Comment