In their quest to finally win that elusive championship, the Los Angeles Clippers traded for James Harden on Monday night. Harden now teams up with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook to create what seems to be a dangerous superteam, but NBA fans hilariously explained what will stop the Clippers.
One joked that the strip clubs in Los Angeles will do it.
LA STRIP CLUBS 😂😂
— Juan verdejo (@juanmverj17) October 31, 2023
One fan pointed to the Clippers’ athletic trainer, due to the frequent injuries.
Clippers athletic trainer, because they will be on the trainers table all season.
— Marc wit a C 🧢 (@Marc_wit_a_C) October 31, 2023
Load management will be the Clippers’ downfall, one fan thinks.
Harden and load management
— TSM MeatWagon (@TSMmeatwagon) October 31, 2023
One fan pointed out that Harden has never won despite having star teammates.
Really tired to answer this.
Harden/Dwight.
Harden/CP
Harden/Westbrook
Harden/KD/Kyrie
Harden/Embiid/Tobi/Maxey
All came up nothing.
So lets just wait and watch
— mictam (@micellz) October 31, 2023
A fan hilariously posted a picture of a young Nikola Jokic.
— Colin AKA GhostPanda (@GhostPandaStorm) October 31, 2023
Injuries certainly will be the biggest concern surrounding the Clippers. It would be one thing if the injury problems had popped up once, but we have now seen their two stars go down time and time again. Also, as you age, the frequency with which you get hurt only increases.
The chances of Leonard and George being healthy when the playoffs come around don’t seem all that great, but if they somehow stay upright, I would give the Clippers a shot at winning it all.
Which Teams Could Stop The Clippers?
Let’s put the injuries, and the jokes about Harden and strip clubs aside for a bit and look at the teams that could still beat them. The defending champions in the Denver Nuggets would certainly be the one that comes to mind first.
Just like the rest of the league, the Clippers have had a rough time trying to contain Jokic. The last time they played him, the Serbian had 40 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals.
Harden certainly doesn’t help in any way to slow him down, and you wouldn’t fancy the Clippers even after this trade, to beat the Nuggets. They’d be the only team in the West, though, that I’d say with a great deal of certainty would beat the Clippers.
The Phoenix Suns could also pose a difficult challenge, but we saw how well the Clippers played against them in the playoffs last season. Despite George missing the whole series and Leonard going down after Game 2, the games were still very competitive.
The Suns did get better by trading for Bradley Beal, but the Clippers did so, too, by adding Harden. I certainly wouldn’t put it past L.A. to beat Phoenix and the series really could go either way.
As for the Los Angeles Lakers, they have lost 11 straight to the Clippers, who just have their number at this point. It just has not been a favorable matchup for the Lakers, especially since Tyrone Lue became head coach for the Clippers.
Once you head out East, though, I would say the Milwaukee Bucks led by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are still better than the Clippers. I’d give the Boston Celtics an edge over them as well, so this trade doesn’t make them unbeatable by any means for me. They could go on to win it all, but it’s not a lock.
Tyronn Lue’s Message To Kawhi Leonard And Paul George
Getting back to the topic of load management during the regular season, it is something that their head coach wants to avoid in the 2023-24 campaign. Lue revealed he told Leonard and George that they have to be serious about the regular season.
His message was that if they just start approaching the regular season differently, it’ll help them later down the road. They wouldn’t have to scramble to get into the playoffs as was the case last season, and can actually get some rest before the playoffs.
Lue stated that both of them agreed with him and so far, Leonard and George haven’t missed a game. It will be interesting to see, though, if they both play in their upcoming back-to-back against the Orlando Magic and the Lakers.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
