The Los Angeles Clippers pushed their chips into the middle of the table in the summer of 2019 when they got mortgaged most of their future picks to acquire Paul George to convince Kawhi Leonard to join the Clippers and begin a new era for the team.
Injuries and a playoff collapse in 2020 have prevented the Clippers from finally reaching the NBA Finals. However, their players have proven their quality through all of this. Kawhi Leonard was a monster in the 2021 Playoffs when he was last healthy and there’s no telling what the Clippers could have achieved if he never tore his ACL.
Paul George was heavily doubted after his role in the Clippers blowing a 3-1 lead in the 2020 Playoffs. However, he carried the Clippers really well without Kawhi after his injury. George himself getting hurt sidetracked the Clippers’ success last season, but they’re looking like favorites heading into this year.
Paul George is getting his summer reps in at the Rico Hines basketball camp, where he gave some hard-earned wisdom to the young hoopers that were present at the camp.
"Some elevate, some plateau, some don't get better" 🔥 @ricohinesbball @yg_trece pic.twitter.com/hpz6b3bFJY
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) August 22, 2022
“I’m gonna piggyback on that and take it one step further. Everybody is blessed in this environment right here to figure out and see. Some elevate, some plateau, and some don’t get better. Listen to what he (Patrick Beverley) said. Find your niche and believe in what you got. Be sharp, be efficient with your dribbles, be sharp with your playmaking. Read, react, play off one another, push yourself, and challenge yourself. Guard. I know, ‘there’s cameras and sh*t and I don’t wanna get exposed’. You’ll get exposed in front of millions. Why not do it here?”
George has a big season ahead of him as this is the year for the Clippers to prove they can actually contend for an NBA championship.
The injury proneness of both Kawhi and PG has to be a massive worry for the front office but they need to trust in their dynamic forward duo to be available when it counts most and lead the Clippers to an inaugural franchise Finals appearance or even a title.
