Tag: Los Angeles Clippers

Paul George talks about playing in the Lakers’ shadows as a Clipper

Paul George once wanted to join the Lakers, but he instead ended up with the Clippers, and he said it wasn’t the most wholesome experience.

Perennial All-Star forward Paul George grew up in Southern California as a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and the late great Kobe Bryant. After spending his first several NBA seasons with the Indiana Pacers, he expressed his interest in returning home and playing for the team he grew up rooting for.

Instead, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017. The following summer, he had the opportunity to join the Lakers as a free agent and team up with LeBron James. Instead, he re-upped with the Thunder, and he seemed to have a strong bond with Russell Westbrook.

Just a year later, he was sent packing to the Southland — as a new member of the Los Angeles Clippers to team up with Kawhi Leonard.

Now that his tenure with L.A.’s junior varsity NBA team is over, George opened up about how it felt to play for it during a recent episode of “Podcast P with Paul George,” his podcast.

“I think initially, coming back to L.A., that was home when I first came back to L.A., but it’s not the same love,” said George. “Because when I was in L.A. they was like ‘Man, you should’ve been a Laker,’ that’s all I was hearing. It wasn’t no ‘Welcome to the Clippers.’ We happy you in L.A., but you should’ve been a Laker. I’m on the B-Team. That’s how the vibe and the love felt.”

The Clippers gave up a king’s ransom to get George: guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, forward Danilo Gallinari and a whopping seven first-round draft picks. At the time, it was thought to be a massive win for them, and they were the overwhelming favorites to win the world championship once the 2019-20 season started.

But they blew a 3-1 series lead in the second round of the playoffs to the Denver Nuggets that year, preventing what seemed to be a fated matchup with the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Even though the Clippers were picked to win it all at least one season afterward, they now have just one Western Conference Finals appearance, two first-round exits and one play-in tournament loss to show for that George trade.

Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander is now a young MVP candidate, and one of those draft picks the Thunder acquired turned into Jalen Williams, who seems to be blossoming into a star in his own right. According to the terms of the deal, Oklahoma City is still owed three more first-rounders.

By now, one has to clearly conclude that Oklahoma City fleeced the Clippers in that deal.

George joined the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency this offseason, and the Clippers are now left with an aging, injury-prone and unreliable star duo in Leonard and James Harden. It has reinforced the Clippers’ reputation as (we’re trying to be polite here) a second-rate NBA team.

Paul George kept being told he was on ‘The B Team’ in Los Angeles while playing for the Clippers

It’s so weird that Paul George admitted this in public.

Anyone who follows the NBA knows that the Los Angeles Clippers very obviously play second fiddle to the Los Angeles Lakers in Southern California. It’s so true that the Clippers would likely have to run off an all-time dynasty to sniff the same love the Lakers get in L.A.

Even then, that love would probably only be temporary.

With that said, it’s bizarre that Paul George kept hearing the Clippers were L.A.’s “B Team” while he was actually playing for the Clippers.

During the latest episode of Podcast P with Paul George, George said other people kept telling him the Clippers didn’t nearly matter as much as the Lakers while he was on the team. It’s a frank admission — conveniently said after George is no longer on the roster — that probably speaks to an unsurprising loser mentality the Clippers franchise has yet to shake:

Look, it’s one thing for NBA fans in Los Angeles to say they care about the Lakers more than the Clippers. That’s fine. But as George alludes, it is a fraught mentality that only hurts the franchise from ever really rising to prominence. And it’s especially unwarranted for him, as a former player, to say this in public.

As George moves on to hopefully greener pastures with the Philadelphia 76ers, this sort of thing is clearly something the Clippers still have to work on. Well, if they ever want to be relevant, that is.

How to watch NBA Summer League: TV channel, free live stream

Catch all of the NBA Summer League season and watch the basketball stars of the future.

NBA Summer League action is winding down and we’re left with the last few games of the tournament.

Sunday brings two semifinals from Las Vegas as the Memphis Grizzlies take on the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors battle the Miami Heat.

The four remaining teams are the only undefeated teams left in Las Vegas, but only one can be crowned the champions of the 2024 NBA Summer League.

How to watch Grizzlies vs. Clippers Summer League playoff semifinals

The first semifinal features the 4-0 Grizzlies against the 4-0 Cliippers. Zach Edey, Memphis’ first round pick was injured in the team’s last game and is unlikely to play against the Clippers.

  • Game: Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Clippers
  • When: 2:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 21
  • TV: ESPN (Watch FREE on Fubo)
  • Live stream: Fubo

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How to watch Warriors vs. Heat Summer League playoff semifinals

The second semifinal features the 4-0 Warriors against the 4-0 Heat. Brandin Podziemski has been the best players so far this summer for the Warriors, while Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been arguably the best player in the entire NBA 2K25 Summer League.

  • Game: Golden State Warriors vs. Miami Heat
  • When: 4:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 21
  • TV: ESPN (Watch FREE on Fubo)
  • Live stream: Fubo

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When is the NBA Summer League Finals?

The NBA Summer League Finals will be played on Monday, July 22 at 9:00 p.m. EDT.

Where to watch NBA Summer League Playoffs?

The NBA Summer League playoffs will air on exclusively on ESPN. Every game is available on Fubo with a subscription.

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The Clippers’ new jumbotron has solved the NBA’s T-shirt cannon crisis

The Clippers continue challenging the common fan experience with their new $2 billion arena

Los Angeles Clippers chairman Steve Ballmer has taken everything he loathes about modern NBA arenas and made it his personal mission to fix the fan experience.

During construction of the Clippers’ new home at the Intuit Dome, Ballmer raved about the facility having more than 1,100 toilets — three times the NBA arena average — which is objectively a great investment.

Then the Clippers showed off “The Wall“, 51 uninterrupted rows of seats behind one baseline specifically for Los Angeles fans to taunt opponents. Those tickets can only be resold on the Clippers’ marketplace.

Ballmer also gets bonus points for putting phone charging ports in every seat.

But the latest technological innovation he unveiled on Friday has finally solved one of biggest fan experience gripes in all of sports: The T-Shirt Cannon.

For years, teams have worked to find ways to create a t-shirt toss during timeouts that reaches every corner of the arena and not just the high-priced seats closer to the floor.

We had supercharged cannons that blasted clothing to the 300 sections. We had mascots using over-sized slingshots with horrible aim. We’ve even had teams drop shirts from the rafters with plastic bag parachutes in hopes of making the t-shirt toss more equitable.

All were bandages on a problem that kept creeping back up.

No more! Ballmer has solved it. He’s achieved the sports equivalent of splitting the atom. And it’s all thanks to the new halo video board inside the arena.

The massive band hanging from the top of the Inuit Dome is capable of firing t-shirts to any and every seat in the building. Let me say that again in my most Oprah voice: EVERY SEAT IN THE BUILDING GETS A(n equal chance at a) T-SHIRT.

This is legitimately a pretty cool set up.

It’s easy to clown on Ballmer — and the Clippers, in general — but to be honest, it’s silly attention to details like these that really will make all the difference for the paying customer.

Teams aren’t always going to contend to championships, and certainly Clippers fans know that well, but you can always make sure fans have an elite experience when attending a game.

The Clippers’ new home completely raises the bar off the court and it won’t be long before rival teams start trying to catch up.

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Nets lose to Clippers 87-78 in Las Vegas Summer League

Despite Keon Johnson going off for 27 points, the Brooklyn Nets lost on Sunday to the LA Clippers in the Las Vegas Summer League 87-78.

The Brooklyn Nets (1-1) were riding high after beating the Indiana Pacers on Friday in the Las Vegas Summer League to the tune of 97-95 in overtime thanks to Keon Johnson’s game-winning bucket. Things changed on Sunday when Brooklyn lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 87-78 mostly due to the Nets not shooting the ball well.

The Nets shot just 38.9% from the field and 31.6% from three-point range as a team and that was with Johnson shooting 4-for-10 and Jalen Wilson shooting 4-of-8 from that distance. Johnson led the team in scoring with 27 points in his second big performance in as many games for a Brooklyn team looking for players to step up.

Noah Clowney had another solid outing for the Nets as he put up 13 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks while also appearing more comfortable this time around than he did last summer in his first NBA action. Clowney has been playing as the starting center which could be Brooklyn’s way of seeing if he can handle playing some center minutes after experiencing that kind of demand during this past campaign.

Wilson struggled on the offensive end as he went 4-of-14 shooting from the field where his only made shots were from deep despite being two days removed from dropping 25 points against the Pacers. Dariq Whitehead put up 10 points, but he still had a rough performance as he went 3-of-12 shooting from the floor, but the important part at this point is that he has looked more lively than he did in the 2023-24 season.

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Former UCLA player Amari Bailey with Clippers for Summer League

Another chance for Amari Bailey.

It’s been a good summer for former UCLA Bruins basketball players. With Jrue Holiday winning the NBA title, Adem Bona getting drafted, and Jaime Jaquez getting some time against the Olympic team.

Now, it was announced that Amari Bailey would be part of the Los Angeles Clippers Summer League team. Bailey, who is still just 20 years old played at UCLA from 2022-2023. The former Sierra Canyon School star grew up in Chicago and moved to California in 2022.

At UCLA, he was the conference freshman of the year twice and scored 19 points in a game twice in the regular season. His career high was 26 in the Pac-12 tournament win over Colorado in 2023.

Bailey was selected in the 2023 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, 23rd overall. He played 16 minutes per game as a 19-year-old for Charlotte during the 2023 summer league.

Bailey and the Clippers will open their 2024 Summer League slate on Friday against the Denver Nuggets.

The Clippers lost Paul George for nothing after trading so much (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander!) to originally acquire him

How bleak is it for the Clippers considering what they gave up to get Paul George?

Paul George will reportedly sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, officially marking the end of his tenure with the L.A. Clippers.

The Clippers ultimately paid a premium price to acquire George from the Thunder in 2019. While it was perhaps a necessary gamble because it helped the team also acquire Kawhi Leonard, it is wild to consider just how many assets the front office surrendered in this deal five years ago.

Even the organization released a statement acknowledging as much:

“We traded a lot to pair Paul and Kawhi, and in exchange, we had five seasons of contention. Even though we fell short of our ultimate objective, we appreciate the chances we had with Paul.”

Looking back, Danilo Gallinari was the main piece that made the deal work financially. But he was hardly the most important part of this move.

Some fans may forget that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander began his career with the Clippers. He was drafted at No. 11 overall and played his rookie season in Los Angeles before he was named All-Rookie Second Team.

While he wasn’t yet who he is today, he was the centerpiece of the deal for the Thunder. Knowing what we know now, Gilgeous-Alexander already has more trade value than George. But that wasn’t all that the Clippers gave up to make this happen.

RELATED: The Clippers fumbling Paul George in free agency has to be the most Clippers thing ever

Also included in the deal was a loaded collection of first-round picks, some of which have been more favorable than others. It seems the most valuable was the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, which was used to pick Jalen Williams.

After earning NBA All-Rookie First-Team during his debut campaign with the Thunder in 2023, he had a breakout season with the Thunder last year and has proven himself as one of the most impressive young players in the NBA.

Oklahoma City also received the No. 18 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, which was used on Tre Mann, who was later rerouted to the Hornets as part of the trade for Gordon Hayward.

Other assets from L.A. in the deal included the No. 26 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft (which was recently used to select Dillon Jones from Weber State).

The Clippers also owned what became the No. 18 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft (used to seelct Jaime Jaquez Jr.), though Oklahoma City turned that into a protected 2025 first-round pick or an unprotected first-round pick in 2026 from the Heat.

That means Oklahoma City is still owed a first-round pick from Miami, the rights to swap picks with the Clippers in 2025, and a first-round pick from the Clippers in 2026.

Meanwhile, the Clippers are left with nothing back in return for George.

They still have Leonard and James Harden on the roster, but the odds of them contending next season do not look strong.

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Former Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. returns to NBA with Clippers

After missing a season following his arrest, former Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. is back in the NBA after signing a minimum salary deal with the Clippers.

Former Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. hasn’t played in the NBA since facing felony charges last September related to a domestic incident in a New York hotel. In the months that followed, which included being traded from Houston to Oklahoma City for financial reasons and subsequently released from the Thunder, Porter eventually pled guilty to misdemeanor assault and a harassment violation.

Now, after briefly playing professionally in Greece earlier this year, the 24-year-old is back in the NBA after signing a veteran’s minimum salary contract with the Clippers. In that capacity, he’ll seemingly be a backup to former Rockets star James Harden.

In three seasons with the Rockets from 2020-21 through 2022-23, Porter averaged 17.2 points (42.8% FG, 36.1% on 3-pointers), 6.0 assists, and 4.7 rebounds in 32.6 minutes per game. He didn’t play with any NBA team in 2023-24 following his September arrest.

Prior to his arrest and subsequent departure from the team, Porter had already been replaced by Fred VanVleet as Houston’s starter at point guard. However, the Rockets were hoping for Porter to provide valuable minutes and scoring punch off the bench.

Instead, his absence opened a larger role for rookie Cam Whitmore, who seized the opportunity during his debut NBA season.

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Brian Windhorst revealed how the Clippers may have strained their Paul George relationship with Kawhi Leonard’s extension

No wonder Paul George is unhappy with the Clippers.

The writing has been on the wall for months.

Barring something unexpected coming into play, it sure seems like Paul George will leave the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency, potentially for greener pastures with the Philadelphia 76ers.

According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the timing of Kawhi Leonard’s latest contract extension may have set George’s Clippers departure into motion. That’s because when the Clippers re-signed Leonard, effectively committing to him for the long term, they reportedly never even told George about their plans.

Under normal circumstances, I fail to see why this is a big deal. What they plan to do with Leonard shouldn’t necessarily be privy to George.

When the Clippers have been simultaneously trying to negotiate with George while probably saying they have to fit him on their books under their terms, I can then see the vision:

NBA stars are driven by ego.

If you want to appease your franchise guys, you have to make it seem like they’re wanted and appreciated. I’m not entirely sure I would’ve taken a lack of knowledge about Leonard’s extension so personally, but George is a perennial All-Star caliber player. He’s a guy who likely wants another max deal at 34.

Every gesture probably counts here.

Report: Klay Thompson planning to have discussions with 4 teams in free agency

The four-time champion is reportedly planning on having discussions with four teams at the start of free agency.

All signs point to the end of the legendary Klay Thompson era with the Golden State Warriors.

Multiple reports have indicated that Thompson and the Warriors are set to part ways this summer after 13 years and four championships. The veteran sharpshooter is rumored to suit up in a new uniform for the first time in his career.

Shortly after the NBA’s free agency window opened on Sunday, Thompson is reportedly planning to have discussions with four teams. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Thompson is planning to have discussions with the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Via @wojespn on Twitter:

Shams Charania of The Athletic is reporting Thompson and the Warriors are exploring different sign-and-trade options. If the Warriors and Thompson’s preferred destination can agree to a sign and trade, Golden State could potentially acquire players or draft compensation.

Via @ShamsCharania on Twitter:

In his final season with the Warriors, Thompson averaged 17.9 points on 43.2% shooting from the floor and 38.7% from beyond the arc to go along with 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 29.7 minutes per game.

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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