Norman Powell made his return to the Clippers last night, earlier than he was projected to after sustaining a knee injury three weeks ago. Powell returned to play against the Lakers, but things did not go his or the Clippers’ way. After the game, one Lakers fan DM’d Powell on Instagram about returning to play against the Lakers, and Powell had a blunt response for the fan who tried insulting him.
Fan: “Was it worth rushing the injury? I know playing the Lakers is like the NBA Finals for you, but look what happened.”
Norman Powell: “Brotha, I didn’t rush anything to play the Lakers! Think the Lakers mean that much? LOL, totally unrelated to what I was out with before. But hey, you and everyone else knows more than me.”
Norman Powell going at it with a Lakers fan in his DM’s 💀💀💀 pic.twitter.com/0XewuIPBM2
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) March 3, 2025
This fan presumably DM’d Powell after Luka Doncic‘s comments in the aftermath of the Lakers’ win over the Clippers, where he joked that a lot of players seem to return from their injuries whenever it is time to play the Lakers. Clearly, Powell didn’t take kindly to the insinuation that he prioritized returning just to play against the Lakers as some form of revenge or because the game was important.
Powell didn’t play a lot for the Clippers, despite starting for them. After playing just nine minutes, he had just four points (1-5 FG), one rebound, one assist, and one steal. It felt as though he didn’t look fully ready to be able to play last night, and him playing just nine minutes might suggest that he returned for the game to try and begin his return to form with some important minutes.
The Clippers have benefitted massively from Norman Powell’s performances this season, as the forward is in contention for the Most Improved Player award this season.
Many felt that Powell should have been named an All-Star because of his numbers this season. However, Powell didn’t get a nod despite averaging 23.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game. He shot 49.4% from the field, 42.4% from beyond the arc, and 82.1% from the free-throw line.
There has always been a massive rivalry between the Lakers and the Clippers. In fact, Powell himself recently revealed that the security staff at the Crypto.com Arena, the home of the Lakers and the Clippers’ former home before they moved to the brand-new Intuit Dome, wouldn’t recognize Clippers players, and they had to argue just to be able to enter the building.
The Clippers have perennially been the butt of the joke when it comes to the Lakers. Many see them as the ‘little brother’ to the Lakers, as the purple and gold franchise has won 17 NBA championships, the second-most by any team in history. Whereas the Clippers haven’t even reached the NBA Finals once in their history and only made the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 2021.
Regardless of the rivalry, Powell maintains that he didn’t return to just play the Lakers, even if it might look that way.
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