Paul George on Kawhi Leonard: ‘He’s the 1, I’m the 2’

“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 …

“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.”

Source: Ohm Youngmisuk @ ESPN

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Ohm Youngmisuk @NotoriousOHM
Paul George didn’t have to but he made it clear with Kawhi back that “Kawhi is the Number One. And I am totally fine with that…Everybody says, ‘Kawhi [and] you are 1 and 1, [or] 1A, 1B.’ I’ll publicly say I’m the 2…there’s no ego when it comes to that.”
espn.com/nba/story/_/id…4:22 AM
Ohm Youngmisuk @NotoriousOHM
Asked if any other championship teams with two star wings have provided a guide for him and Kawhi, Paul George made it clear that there is no ego involved and that “Everybody say, ‘Kawhi, you, are 1 and 1 (or) 1A, 1B.’ I’ll publicly say, I’m the 2. Kawhi’s the 1… there’s no ego” pic.twitter.com/AsvHyfkAUZ2:39 AM

Andrew Greif @AndrewGreif
Paul George on whether he’s seen extra joy from Kawhi during his comeback season. pic.twitter.com/2cRDgdcj7S1:45 AM

Andrew Greif @AndrewGreif
Asked Paul George if he’s studied older rosters that won with big wings as stars and he said yes, and added that to max out this team’s potential, Kawhi is the clear 1 in terms of who the ball runs through and he’s the 2, saying he’s happy with a job of making everyone better. – 1:41 AM
Law Murray @LawMurrayTheNU
Paul George says that Kawhi Leonard is the 1, and he is the 2.
And he is perfectly fine with that.
“My job is to make everyone better.” – 1:35 AM
Janis Carr @janiscarr
Unlike the Portland game, four of the Clippers starters were on the court for the start of the third quarter. Only Kawhi sat. – 12:09 AM
Andrew Greif @AndrewGreif
Ty Lue said wanted to test his all-wing lineup and he is here in the second quarter: Kawhi, PG, Batum, Covington, Morris. – 11:31 PM
Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Anthony Edwards trying to go at Kawhi Leonard the same way he did to Bo Cruz – 11:23 PM
Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Kawhi Leonard knows how to play physically against his opponents without appearing too physical and sparking a whistle. – 10:53 PM
Brad Turner @BA_Turner
Clippers see a more involved and vocal Kawhi Leonard latimes.com/sports/clipper…9:50 PM
Brad Turner @BA_Turner
Kawhi putting in work before practice pic.twitter.com/6kQ3jKShwN1:41 PM

Law Murray @LawMurrayTheNU
Early morning with Kawhi Leonard, Amir Coffey, Terance Mann, Luke Kennard pic.twitter.com/lAtIXyIQlF1:25 PM

Ohm Youngmisuk @NotoriousOHM
The latest Lakers-Clippers report with @Dave McMenamin on Draymond turmoil and how that might impact Lakers and Clippers, could the Wembanyama thirsty tanking provide a nice piece at deadline for LA contenders, Russ, Kawhi and Wall returns https://t.co/tE8STo9N6p pic.twitter.com/8JvTEwC83s1:22 AM

Ohm Youngmisuk @NotoriousOHM
As Kawhi Leonard and Paul George enter Year Four together with title expectations, here are the top five questions facing the Clippers entering the season espn.com/nba/story/_/id…4:15 PM
Neil Dalal @NeilDalal96
John Wall hitting the dougie again even got Kawhi Leonard laughing 😂
pic.twitter.com/elERWzypK99:29 AM

More on this storyline

“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].” The Clippers’ season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 20 will be the their first meaningful game together since Leonard tore his right ACL in Game 4 of Los Angeles’ second-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz on June 14, 2021. George picked up the load and led the Clippers to their first-ever Western Conference finals appearance that postseason without Leonard. -via ESPN / October 10, 2022
A major emphasis during training camp last week in Santa Barbara, California, Simons said, was having all five positions be able to switch on defense. That means Simons could find himself on bigger players as he did with Leonard. Simons passed that test. “I surprised myself, honestly,” Simons said with a laugh. “I mean, you see Kawhi moving centers. And I was able to take at least three bumps from him and be OK.” Adding muscle clearly paid off. “I guess the weight room helped,” Simons said with a smile. “That’s something they can’t take away from me. I got a couple of stops on Kawhi, a little bit.” -via Oregonian / October 9, 2022
Now Leonard, who also led San Antonio to the 2014 title, is leading as much with his voice as his work ethic. “Yeah, I definitely see a different Kawhi out there — personality-wise, laughing more, enjoying just being out here and the moments that we have as a team coming together,” Powell said before the Clippers practiced Saturday. “You definitely see more interaction, him talking to everybody. Not to say that he wasn’t in Toronto, but you definitely see some joy in him when he steps on the floor and interacts with the guys day in and day out. So, it’s definitely good.” -via Los Angeles Times / October 9, 2022
Lue said Leonard is a “quiet guy by nature,” but when he speaks, “everyone listens.” “I think being excited to be back,” Lue said. “Just having a bigger voice, I know he does it all by showing guys working out early, first one here, last one to leave. Just having a voice and showing these guys, like in the scrimmage the other day at USC [on Thursday], [guys] started out messing around and he pulled the guys in and said, ‘let’s play for real and let’s tighten it up,’ and guys started playing more serious. “I don’t think he would have done that two or three years ago. I think with him and PG [Paul George] just having the biggest voices on the team and knowing that this is their team, he’s definitely taken huge steps in that regard.” -via Los Angeles Times / October 9, 2022
“I think both of us kind of internally had a promise,” George said. “I know I did for myself, to bring a championship here. Then when you look at how close we were two years back, the year Kawhi got hurt, how close we were, I didn’t want to leave anything on the table that I could have done more.” That is why George felt this offseason was so important and says he was more “focused” than ever before to work on his game, his body and camaraderie with his teammates. George is hoping it will help him and Leonard get to where they were planning to go when they decided to join forces in the summer of 2019. -via ESPN / October 7, 2022