Things have not gone to plan in LA for the Clippers since signing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
It’s still Laker Land, and the Lakers get a lot of criticism for how things have gone on the court. Still, in some ways, the Clippers have been worse, considering the Lakers have had a championship since then, and Anthony Davis has played more games than PG and Kawhi since they all arrived in LA.
This year could be different, though.
They have Kawhi returning to the lineup after missing all of last season, a stronger PG, and signed John Wall, who has looked like his old self in the preseason.
For PG, though, it’s been an adjustment because he’s been a number one scoring option his whole career until getting to LA. Still, he says he’s fine with behind second behind Kawhi and compares it to when Lebron James went to play with Dwyane Wade in Miami while speaking with ESPN.
“Yeah, look at the [Miami Heat] wing-wing DWade [Dwyane Wade] and LeBron [James],” George said Sunday following the Clippers’ 119-117 preseason loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena. “I think it just comes down to — listen, Kawhi is the No. 1. And I am totally fine with that. I think I try to complement him with being able to take the load off of him.
“Everybody says, ‘Kawhi [and] you are 1 and 1, [or] 1A, 1B.’ I’ll publicly say, I’m the 2. Kawhi’s the 1, I’m the 2. So that part we nipped in the bud. Like there’s no ego when it comes to that.”
“We’re both unselfish,” Leonard said. “My 12th year, his 13th year … we’ve been through this before, so I feel like just having those years under our belt and, obviously, like I said, we have a genuine relationship, and it just carries over [into how we lead].”
I think this year could be different for the Clippers but saying the right things is just that. They have to show it on the court.
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