Kawhi injury - diagnosed with torn meniscus

[wco81]

Lue says Leonard will be 100% by training camp. He’s on target and done an incredible job with his rehab. When training camp starts they’ll get together with the medical staff and be smart about practices, minutes, and games. Same with PG.

Driven by hunger to win or the fact that they’re both eligIble for huge extensions?

[wakelaunch1]

i am in the camp now that they care more about the money than the team. They just want to play in the playoffs and play the minimum games possible. I dont think either of them love playing the game anymore. PG wants to be tv guy and Kawhi is a ghost.

[esqtvd]

i am in the camp now that they care more about the money than the team. They just want to play in the playoffs and play the minimum games possible. I dont think either of them love playing the game anymore. PG wants to be tv guy and Kawhi is a ghost.

uh oh


Clippers’ Culture Described as ‘Train Wreck’
By Sam Amico -May 9, 2023

“I’m not sure what they can do,” the executive told Bulpett. “They’re not going to get value for those guys (Leonard, George) in any sort of deals. They just miss too many games, and that’s ruined the culture. It’s ruined the culture of the Clippers.

“Not knowing from night to night if you’re going to have PG or Kawhi just killed them. They didn’t know who was playing on any given night. It’s a train wreck. They’ve got some really good character guys on their team, but the culture is bad.”

https://hoopswire.com/clippers-culture-described-as-train-wreck/

[KL2]

A lot can be said about Leonard but questioning his work ethic or how he attacks his rehab isn’t one of them.

Makes you wonder who keeps saying they have a bad culture. The guys seem to genuinely like each other. There’s a lot we don’t see, of course, but they hang out off the court as well. Even a lot of former players still speak well of their time here or continue to hang around as well.

[Wammy Giveaway]

Makes you wonder who keeps saying they have a bad culture.

The whole point is to make the Clippers look like a bad sports organization. You want good first class teams who understand the value of competition and championships, go somewhere else, not the Clippers. Anything to convince the league that their existence is a mistake and must be promptly replaced by a better respected franchise. Ironically, their losing history is of their own doing, not conspired, but with the Clippers having to travel the most miles this season compared to other teams, their final season before the big move to the Intuit Dome has some semblance of a hidden agenda.

This could be the season we find out who's controlling the narrative, who they're trying to help (Lakers, Warriors, Kings, etc.), why they're after the Clippers (revenge, jealousy, feelings of imperfection), and their end game (ie: do they want Clippers replaced by another team, given the rumors of expansion within the coming years).

[MartinToVaught]

Makes you wonder who keeps saying they have a bad culture.

The bad culture is self-evident from watching them play. This team was a joyless dumpster fire last season, and since there hasn't been any major changes to the coaching staff or roster, any case for this season being better is based entirely on wishes and hope.

[NickP]

i am in the camp now that they care more about the money than the team. They just want to play in the playoffs and play the minimum games possible. I dont think either of them love playing the game anymore. PG wants to be tv guy and Kawhi is a ghost.

uh oh


Clippers’ Culture Described as ‘Train Wreck’
By Sam Amico -May 9, 2023

“I’m not sure what they can do,” the executive told Bulpett. “They’re not going to get value for those guys (Leonard, George) in any sort of deals. They just miss too many games, and that’s ruined the culture. It’s ruined the culture of the Clippers.

“Not knowing from night to night if you’re going to have PG or Kawhi just killed them. They didn’t know who was playing on any given night. It’s a train wreck. They’ve got some really good character guys on their team, but the culture is bad.”

https://hoopswire.com/clippers-culture-described-as-train-wreck/

And THAT is 100% true.

[esqtvd]

Makes you wonder who keeps saying they have a bad culture.

this guy did

i am in the camp now that they care more about the money than the team. They just want to play in the playoffs and play the minimum games possible. I dont think either of them love playing the game anymore. PG wants to be tv guy and Kawhi is a ghost.

and this guy

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[KL2]

If that thread is true then forget Leonard and George being divas, Reggie being a d**k, Morris pouting and making ultimatums, T-Mann despising Lue, the real culprits are the FO and Lue.

I mean really?? Lue sabotaging the team before he dips and the FO still holds on to him?

[esqtvd]

If that thread is true then forget Leonard and George being divas, Reggie being a d**k, Morris pouting and making ultimatums, T-Mann despising Lue, the real culprits are the FO and Lue.

I mean really?? Lue sabotaging the team before he dips and the FO still holds on to him?

Some of it is rank speculation, such as Lue sabotaging the season by playing 3- or 4-guard lineups. That would require reading his mind. The least plausible of this grab bag.

Others are opinions, like how Mann feels about Ty. Mann puts on a happy face, but remember he was putting up career stats starting alongside Kawhi and PG, and they torpedoed him, with the coach's consent. Mann's minutes were cut from 27 to 22 when Westbrook was acquired. Very plausible that Mann is disenchanted with KL, PG and Ty too.

That Morris was issuing demands to start adds up, and jibes with his disappearance for a couple weeks with COVID "protocol" [but not COVID] then with Ty starting him again.

That Reggie is a d*ick doesn't really ring with me--especially since Denver re-signed him even after he played his way out of their rotation. But maybe Reggie is a bit of a phony with the little people, I dunno.

That Kawhi has gone MIA without explanation to Ty has been noted in other places. He is, of course, key to everything. He seems very pleased to have Russ to lean on, both to do the scut work of running the offense and for all practical purposes taking over the captaincy--something that fits neither KL or PG very well. [Or at all.]

Kawhi taking over the Tim Duncan role while Russ becomes Tony Parker might just do the trick. [I guess that makes PG Kawhi, huh?]

[Wammy Giveaway]

If that thread is true then forget Leonard and George being divas, Reggie being a d**k, Morris pouting and making ultimatums, T-Mann despising Lue, the real culprits are the FO and Lue.

I mean really?? Lue sabotaging the team before he dips and the FO still holds on to him?

Others are opinions, like how Mann feels about Ty. Mann puts on a happy face, but remember he was putting up career stats starting alongside Kawhi and PG, and they torpedoed him, with the coach's consent. Mann's minutes were cut from 27 to 22 when Westbrook was acquired. Very plausible that Mann is disenchanted with KL, PG and Ty too.

Kawhi taking over the Tim Duncan role while Russ becomes Tony Parker might just do the trick. [I guess that makes PG Kawhi, huh?]

Which would have made Mann expendable for a superstar trade. They're trying to get James Harden. But if the line is drawn to Mann, all because he saved the franchise from a horrendous rebuilding fate had they lost to Jazz in 2021, then we are in the glimpse of an internal struggle.

Who is protecting Mann? Who wants him out so they can get Harden, resulting in the Clipper's dream of a Fantastic 4?

[nickhx2]

nobody reasonable wants james harden for the price the 76ers are asking

[KL2]

Read on Twitter

[esqtvd]

If that thread is true then forget Leonard and George being divas, Reggie being a d**k, Morris pouting and making ultimatums, T-Mann despising Lue, the real culprits are the FO and Lue.

I mean really?? Lue sabotaging the team before he dips and the FO still holds on to him?

Others are opinions, like how Mann feels about Ty. Mann puts on a happy face, but remember he was putting up career stats starting alongside Kawhi and PG, and they torpedoed him, with the coach's consent. Mann's minutes were cut from 27 to 22 when Westbrook was acquired. Very plausible that Mann is disenchanted with KL, PG and Ty too.

Kawhi taking over the Tim Duncan role while Russ becomes Tony Parker might just do the trick. [I guess that makes PG Kawhi, huh?]

Which would have made Mann expendable for a superstar trade. They're trying to get James Harden. But if the line is drawn to Mann, all because he saved the franchise from a horrendous rebuilding fate had they lost to Jazz in 2021, then we are in the glimpse of an internal struggle.

Who is protecting Mann? Who wants him out so they can get Harden, resulting in the Clipper's dream of a Fantastic 4?

I'd say Ballmer is scared to death of the Kawhi house of cards falling and being left with nothing.

Mann is a nice player but a marginal starter at best. But I don't think Ballmer wants to go all-in on this year, at least not yet, before Kawhi has played a single game.

And there may be a great deal of ambivalence about Harden, too, for multiple reasons. There is probably zero interest in signing him long-term after all the disappointment he has left in his wake over his career.

[esqtvd]

Read on Twitter

[esqtvd]

Ballmer might just pay the fines to keep KL happy

Read on Twitter

[esqtvd]

OK, now this is really a full-on joke.

The league will pre-approve load management for stars who are 35 years old by opening night or have amassed 34,000 regular-season minutes or a combined 1,000 regular-season and playoff games, ESPN’s Bobby Marks reports.

Seven players fit that description, headlined by LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Chris Paul, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan and Mike Conley also will be eligible for exceptions.

https://www.si.com/nba/2023/09/13/lebron-james-stephen-curry-kevin-durant-james-harden-nba-resting-rule-exceptions-load-management?fbclid=IwAR0zcCQv2YD1qPfNHs8Bd2OOG8GRR1_1GsY5W3bJnduwVIm4yBDz356UYXA

[wco81]

OK, now this is really a full-on joke.

The league will pre-approve load management for stars who are 35 years old by opening night or have amassed 34,000 regular-season minutes or a combined 1,000 regular-season and playoff games, ESPN’s Bobby Marks reports.

Seven players fit that description, headlined by LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Chris Paul, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan and Mike Conley also will be eligible for exceptions.

https://www.si.com/nba/2023/09/13/lebron-james-stephen-curry-kevin-durant-james-harden-nba-resting-rule-exceptions-load-management?fbclid=IwAR0zcCQv2YD1qPfNHs8Bd2OOG8GRR1_1GsY5W3bJnduwVIm4yBDz356UYXA

Steve Kerr has referenced studies which show that too many minutes lead to injuries so he’s hard core about load management, even as he gets flak for losing games by not playing Curry enough in certain games.

But Silver must be worried about securing a big new TV deal, to take this measure.

[KL2]

Read on Twitter

[clipperlover]

Read on Twitter

Wouldn't call that "throwing down".

I would say this is Kawhi being pissed:

Watch on YouTube

He is correct that no NBA policy is going to help him play.

He is about to go full beast mode on the league.