The Los Angeles Clippers are out from the NBA playoffs after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets, and it’s absolutely right to worry about their future after just one year together.
After a rough postseason, Paul George did address the future by talking about the past year.
“I think internally, we’ve always felt this was not a championship or bust year for us,” he told reporters. “We can only get better the longer we stay together.”
It’s strange to hear an athlete talk about NOT having championship expectations, particularly in this situation where George and Kawhi Leonard have short contracts and were on a team that mortgaged its future to contend now.
“I think internally, we’ve always felt this was not a championship or bust year for us. We can only get better the longer we stay together."
—PG on the Clippers being expected to win pic.twitter.com/UuPKDphaMY
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 16, 2020
But a lot of NBA fans are pointing out that, at least according to George himself earlier this year, that maybe the team didn’t talk about it being a long-term plan to win a title.
He told Kevin Hart on a Cold as Balls episode in June that there wasn’t any “hey this is going to take a year to get used to one another” conversation:
Paul George on June 23rd “Immediately we expected to come in and win it all, We didn’t have no other, like hey this is going to take a year to get used to each other”
pic.twitter.com/JCSAoXMndi https://t.co/ZlbnmZWfas
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) September 16, 2020
Paul George: this wasn’t a championship or bust season.
Also Paul George: pic.twitter.com/0HKEAjyeL1— Shervon Fakhimi (@ShervonFakhimi) September 16, 2020
Come again???? @Yg_Trece pic.twitter.com/JrrKOH6acZ
— GX 🥃 (@jellybizkit) September 16, 2020
Whatever the case is, the Clippers do need another year to jell, but given their stars’ contract situation, the clock is ticking.
