An early summer 2024 thread

[Captain Ballmer]

Regardless of the angles, narratives, guests... Wayoff P doesn't have to say that. He has small brain with big mouth, so happy that he fumbled all the bridges with us as soon as he had a chance, we can easily şhit on him now.

Yea, I have little concern for Paul George or his success as a Sixer.

When I first saw the tweet, my reaction was very different from when I then watched the clip. The tweet makes you feel like, "look at this idiot". The clip on the other hand is just narrating a reality of it being a Laker dominated city.

I had a very different initial perception, but the clip was just the same stuff him and Mann had talked about in terms of Lakers fans in LA basically acting a certain way towards Clippers players in terms of, "yea you're cool, but you're not Lakers" kind of treatment.

I think it’s … interesting. I think it illustrates PGs strengths in a couple of areas and (bigger) weaknesses in others. I do think his assessment of the Clippers/Lakers is accurate. I think he’s honest and reasonably eloquent in laying this out.

But—man! What this shows most of all is that PG didn’t commit to trying to change the narrative. Players like Elton and Lamar Odom, flawed in their own right, were willing to try and push the status quo in LA when Sterling was the owner. So was CP3. CP3, warts and all, would never have put up with a player that was so casual about his team’s fortunes and respect. He would (and did) fight and scratch and claw for the respect that PG seems to just … acknowledge and accept a lack of. To me, PG13s comments show a sense of complacency; “The Lakers were/are the A-team.” Dammit man, try and do something about it. You have the talent and teammates and owner. This is a guy who wants a max salary while not being an alpha player and not trying as hard as he could and should have to push his team to a higher level. It’s a little sad to me.

This is it bro. I wouldn't care less if he was another Jared Dudley. He was the half face of turning the chapter in LA. It didn't work but you didn't have to say it like that in the video. HOFer just admiting his lack of integrity, dignity to everbody, " we didn't feel like at all in LA but agreed to proceed it bc money was good" In his own media, he controls the narrative but he selected to throw us punch to justify his move anyway. Especially towards a franchise who gave a lot to get him.

He shows zero dignity after the break-up, so should we. Booos should be heard loudly when we face with Philly.

[og15]

Regardless of the angles, narratives, guests... Wayoff P doesn't have to say that. He has small brain with big mouth, so happy that he fumbled all the bridges with us as soon as he had a chance, we can easily şhit on him now.

Yea, I have little concern for Paul George or his success as a Sixer.

When I first saw the tweet, my reaction was very different from when I then watched the clip. The tweet makes you feel like, "look at this idiot". The clip on the other hand is just narrating a reality of it being a Laker dominated city.

I had a very different initial perception, but the clip was just the same stuff him and Mann had talked about in terms of Lakers fans in LA basically acting a certain way towards Clippers players in terms of, "yea you're cool, but you're not Lakers" kind of treatment.

I think it’s … interesting. I think it illustrates PGs strengths in a couple of areas and (bigger) weaknesses in others. I do think his assessment of the Clippers/Lakers is accurate. I think he’s honest and reasonably eloquent in laying this out.

But—man! What this shows most of all is that PG didn’t commit to trying to change the narrative. Players like Elton and Lamar Odom, flawed in their own right, were willing to try and push the status quo in LA when Sterling was the owner. So was CP3. CP3, warts and all, would never have put up with a player that was so casual about his team’s fortunes and respect. He would (and did) fight and scratch and claw for the respect that PG seems to just … acknowledge and accept a lack of. To me, PG13s comments show a sense of complacency; “The Lakers were/are the A-team.” Dammit man, try and do something about it. You have the talent and teammates and owner. This is a guy who wants a max salary while not being an alpha player and not trying as hard as he could and should have to push his team to a higher level. It’s a little sad to me.

When you leave a team you're better off just not saying anything about the team that isn't explicitly positive, at least for a while, because you're generally not going to get any grace for anything you say that can be construed in any way that isn't positive.

Of course this is the result of having a podcast as an active player where you're supposed to be sharing and being real or whatever. You start talking more like just chatting with friends than like you're at a media press conference, and that means you're talking pretty openly but to public ears, and that means to interpretation and scrutiny.

Paul George isn't, never has, and never will be a "leader of men", not everyone can be. In addition, he has settled into being content with being very good (not that he hasn't maximized his abilities).

While injuries and other factors were the main problem, an additional problem the George and Kawhi pairing has had is that Kawhi is not a leader, he's just a guy who is there to do his work and move on, he's not a guy who is going to host teammates or build chemistry or any of that stuff, he's just doing his own thing. George is also not a leader, he's a guy who will talk, but he doesn't have leadership skills, he kinda tries, but it's not there.

Like you mentioned, say what you want about CP and how he can grate on some teammates, or how some guys either love him like Barnes, Redick, etc, or don't like him like Kenyon, etc, but he put the effort into leadership, he tried to rally teammates and bring them together, etc. That former team was affected by some age differences and the deflating nature of early failure and injuries, but there was a far greater passion among those guys than anything we saw from PG and Kawhi.

Part of why those guys also had ups and downs is because it was a lot of competitive guys who wanted to win and at all costs. The 213 guys are more of a "winning would be really nice, but it's okay" kind of group. The former were not talented enough and had injuries, the later had the talent, also had injuries, but were certainly not the same level of passion.

[madmaxmedia]

He's not a terrible human being, in a vacuum he didn't say anything that bad. But he doesn't live in a vacuum, nor does he play say golf where his actions and mindset only impact himself.

The man utterly lacks the self-awareness that would make him a better basketball player, teammate, and speaker. He somehow both is overconfident but (tends to) wilt under pressure, and his confidence comes from lack of self-awareness more than anything. He chokes in playoff games, and then talks about how he feels no pressure because of the beauty of aging or whatever. Just say you struggled and want to do better for your team!

That's the most aggravating thing about him, he's not ill-intentioned but refuses to get a clue. If Sixers aren't successful, he'll talk about how they weren't expected to win a title, he's only one of the cogs on the overall team or whatever. But if they were to win a title I guarantee that he'll talk about how he should be considered one of the GOAT's.

The man has absolutely zero dawg in him.

[KL2]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[esqtvd]

Yea, I have little concern for Paul George or his success as a Sixer.

When I first saw the tweet, my reaction was very different from when I then watched the clip. The tweet makes you feel like, "look at this idiot". The clip on the other hand is just narrating a reality of it being a Laker dominated city.

I had a very different initial perception, but the clip was just the same stuff him and Mann had talked about in terms of Lakers fans in LA basically acting a certain way towards Clippers players in terms of, "yea you're cool, but you're not Lakers" kind of treatment.

I think it’s … interesting. I think it illustrates PGs strengths in a couple of areas and (bigger) weaknesses in others. I do think his assessment of the Clippers/Lakers is accurate. I think he’s honest and reasonably eloquent in laying this out.

But—man! What this shows most of all is that PG didn’t commit to trying to change the narrative. Players like Elton and Lamar Odom, flawed in their own right, were willing to try and push the status quo in LA when Sterling was the owner. So was CP3. CP3, warts and all, would never have put up with a player that was so casual about his team’s fortunes and respect. He would (and did) fight and scratch and claw for the respect that PG seems to just … acknowledge and accept a lack of. To me, PG13s comments show a sense of complacency; “The Lakers were/are the A-team.” Dammit man, try and do something about it. You have the talent and teammates and owner. This is a guy who wants a max salary while not being an alpha player and not trying as hard as he could and should have to push his team to a higher level. It’s a little sad to me.

When you leave a team you're better off just not saying anything about the team that isn't explicitly positive, at least for a while, because you're generally not going to get any grace for anything you say that can be construed in any way that isn't positive.

Of course this is the result of having a podcast as an active player where you're supposed to be sharing and being real or whatever. You start talking more like just chatting with friends than like you're at a media press conference, and that means you're talking pretty openly but to public ears, and that means to interpretation and scrutiny.

Paul George isn't, never has, and never will be a "leader of men", not everyone can be. In addition, he has settled into being content with being very good (not that he hasn't maximized his abilities).

While injuries and other factors were the main problem, an additional problem the George and Kawhi pairing has had is that Kawhi is not a leader, he's just a guy who is there to do his work and move on, he's not a guy who is going to host teammates or build chemistry or any of that stuff, he's just doing his own thing. George is also not a leader, he's a guy who will talk, but he doesn't have leadership skills, he kinda tries, but it's not there.

Like you mentioned, say what you want about CP and how he can grate on some teammates, or how some guys either love him like Barnes, Redick, etc, or don't like him like Kenyon, etc, but he put the effort into leadership, he tried to rally teammates and bring them together, etc. That former team was affected by some age differences and the deflating nature of early failure and injuries, but there was a far greater passion among those guys than anything we saw from PG and Kawhi.

Part of why those guys also had ups and downs is because it was a lot of competitive guys who wanted to win and at all costs. The 213 guys are more of a "winning would be really nice, but it's okay" kind of group. The former were not talented enough and had injuries, the later had the talent, also had injuries, but were certainly not the same level of passion.

Trezz took a lot of hate for telling the truth.

[esqtvd]

Read on Twitter

Somebody had to take the fall. Doc Rivers died for their sins.

[og15]

Read on Twitter

Somebody had to take the fall. Doc Rivers died for their sins.

One thing everyone learns in the NBA is that you have to grab every chance of success you have and maximize it because you never know if it will come back

You get to the finals in your 3rd or 4th year, don't just think your team is going to be in the finals more times, you might never get there again.

[esqtvd]

Read on Twitter

One thing everyone learns in the NBA is that you have to grab every chance of success you have and maximize it because you never know if it will come back

You get to the finals in your 3rd or 4th year, don't just think your team is going to be in the finals more times, you might never get there again.

In their defense, few took The Bubble seriously. Both the Lakers and Clippers voted to pull the plug on it, but got outvoted by the other teams. It WAS a plastic championship, starting months later, with no travel, a bizarre summer camp barracks situation and no fans. It was played in what amounted to a TV studio.

The fog of time has been kind to it, but it didn't seem that way at the time. Except to LeBron. When you're chasing Jordan, they ALL count.

[madmaxmedia]

One thing everyone learns in the NBA is that you have to grab every chance of success you have and maximize it because you never know if it will come back

You get to the finals in your 3rd or 4th year, don't just think your team is going to be in the finals more times, you might never get there again.

To me the ultimate example is Dan Marino. Made it to the Super Bowl his 2nd year (and lost), never made it back to another one in a 17 year career despite being a HOF QB with that lightning fast release.

[nickhx2]

yeah

cp3 kinda said something similar too. thought it was so easy with the hornets, and since then it never was for him

[MartinToVaught]

Trezz took a lot of hate for telling the truth.

Trez was no better and had no room to talk.

[esqtvd]

Trezz took a lot of hate for telling the truth.

Trez was no better and had no room to talk.

After Trezz's grandmother died during the COVID break [he called her "Mom"], he was never the same. Before that he always came to play and made the most of his limited talent. And he told it like it was: KL already had his rings and as it turned out, PG doesn't really seem to need one. He has his money and his podcasts. And just enough basketball to make them possible.

I mean look at Jamal. He knows every bit of NBA history, holds his summer pro-am tournament. Eats and sleeps hoop. PG just ain't made of that.

[Clemenza]

Regardless of the angles, narratives, guests... Wayoff P doesn't have to say that. He has small brain with big mouth, so happy that he fumbled all the bridges with us as soon as he had a chance, we can easily şhit on him now.

Yea, I have little concern for Paul George or his success as a Sixer.

When I first saw the tweet, my reaction was very different from when I then watched the clip. The tweet makes you feel like, "look at this idiot". The clip on the other hand is just narrating a reality of it being a Laker dominated city.

I had a very different initial perception, but the clip was just the same stuff him and Mann had talked about in terms of Lakers fans in LA basically acting a certain way towards Clippers players in terms of, "yea you're cool, but you're not Lakers" kind of treatment.

I think it’s … interesting. I think it illustrates PGs strengths in a couple of areas and (bigger) weaknesses in others. I do think his assessment of the Clippers/Lakers is accurate. I think he’s honest and reasonably eloquent in laying this out.

But—man! What this shows most of all is that PG didn’t commit to trying to change the narrative. Players like Elton and Lamar Odom, flawed in their own right, were willing to try and push the status quo in LA when Sterling was the owner. So was CP3. CP3, warts and all, would never have put up with a player that was so casual about his team’s fortunes and respect. He would (and did) fight and scratch and claw for the respect that PG seems to just … acknowledge and accept a lack of. To me, PG13s comments show a sense of complacency; “The Lakers were/are the A-team.” Dammit man, try and do something about it. You have the talent and teammates and owner. This is a guy who wants a max salary while not being an alpha player and not trying as hard as he could and should have to push his team to a higher level. It’s a little sad to me.

Exactly.. you don't even tell that story unless you helped change the B Team's fortune or at least altered the narrative towards the positive. You bury that story ten feet under the ground and never utter a word about since the 213 Era was a bust and you bolted out of town for a whole new situation.

[esqtvd]

Yea, I have little concern for Paul George or his success as a Sixer.

When I first saw the tweet, my reaction was very different from when I then watched the clip. The tweet makes you feel like, "look at this idiot". The clip on the other hand is just narrating a reality of it being a Laker dominated city.

I had a very different initial perception, but the clip was just the same stuff him and Mann had talked about in terms of Lakers fans in LA basically acting a certain way towards Clippers players in terms of, "yea you're cool, but you're not Lakers" kind of treatment.

I think it’s … interesting. I think it illustrates PGs strengths in a couple of areas and (bigger) weaknesses in others. I do think his assessment of the Clippers/Lakers is accurate. I think he’s honest and reasonably eloquent in laying this out.

But—man! What this shows most of all is that PG didn’t commit to trying to change the narrative. Players like Elton and Lamar Odom, flawed in their own right, were willing to try and push the status quo in LA when Sterling was the owner. So was CP3. CP3, warts and all, would never have put up with a player that was so casual about his team’s fortunes and respect. He would (and did) fight and scratch and claw for the respect that PG seems to just … acknowledge and accept a lack of. To me, PG13s comments show a sense of complacency; “The Lakers were/are the A-team.” Dammit man, try and do something about it. You have the talent and teammates and owner. This is a guy who wants a max salary while not being an alpha player and not trying as hard as he could and should have to push his team to a higher level. It’s a little sad to me.

Exactly.. you don't even tell that story unless you helped change the B Team's fortune or at least altered the narrative towards the positive. You bury that story ten feet under the ground and never utter a word about since the 213 Era was a bust and you bolted out of town for a whole new situation.

Truth. The 213 era just wasn't much fun. All high expectations and even the good times were dampened by them. Kawhi has his titles elsewhere and PG is now on his 4th team, which in the end will be all more or less the same to him.

Lob City have slowly been coming to grips with their era. They did have an identity and admit that if they did not reach their full potential, it was their own fault. None of them went on to greater success elsewhere, and they [and we fans] need to look back at some very good times.

[Clemenza]

Yea, I have little concern for Paul George or his success as a Sixer.

When I first saw the tweet, my reaction was very different from when I then watched the clip. The tweet makes you feel like, "look at this idiot". The clip on the other hand is just narrating a reality of it being a Laker dominated city.

I had a very different initial perception, but the clip was just the same stuff him and Mann had talked about in terms of Lakers fans in LA basically acting a certain way towards Clippers players in terms of, "yea you're cool, but you're not Lakers" kind of treatment.

I think it’s … interesting. I think it illustrates PGs strengths in a couple of areas and (bigger) weaknesses in others. I do think his assessment of the Clippers/Lakers is accurate. I think he’s honest and reasonably eloquent in laying this out.

But—man! What this shows most of all is that PG didn’t commit to trying to change the narrative. Players like Elton and Lamar Odom, flawed in their own right, were willing to try and push the status quo in LA when Sterling was the owner. So was CP3. CP3, warts and all, would never have put up with a player that was so casual about his team’s fortunes and respect. He would (and did) fight and scratch and claw for the respect that PG seems to just … acknowledge and accept a lack of. To me, PG13s comments show a sense of complacency; “The Lakers were/are the A-team.” Dammit man, try and do something about it. You have the talent and teammates and owner. This is a guy who wants a max salary while not being an alpha player and not trying as hard as he could and should have to push his team to a higher level. It’s a little sad to me.

When you leave a team you're better off just not saying anything about the team that isn't explicitly positive, at least for a while, because you're generally not going to get any grace for anything you say that can be construed in any way that isn't positive.

Of course this is the result of having a podcast as an active player where you're supposed to be sharing and being real or whatever. You start talking more like just chatting with friends than like you're at a media press conference, and that means you're talking pretty openly but to public ears, and that means to interpretation and scrutiny.

Paul George isn't, never has, and never will be a "leader of men", not everyone can be. In addition, he has settled into being content with being very good (not that he hasn't maximized his abilities).

While injuries and other factors were the main problem, an additional problem the George and Kawhi pairing has had is that Kawhi is not a leader, he's just a guy who is there to do his work and move on, he's not a guy who is going to host teammates or build chemistry or any of that stuff, he's just doing his own thing. George is also not a leader, he's a guy who will talk, but he doesn't have leadership skills, he kinda tries, but it's not there.

Like you mentioned, say what you want about CP and how he can grate on some teammates, or how some guys either love him like Barnes, Redick, etc, or don't like him like Kenyon, etc, but he put the effort into leadership, he tried to rally teammates and bring them together, etc. That former team was affected by some age differences and the deflating nature of early failure and injuries, but there was a far greater passion among those guys than anything we saw from PG and Kawhi.

Part of why those guys also had ups and downs is because it was a lot of competitive guys who wanted to win and at all costs. The 213 guys are more of a "winning would be really nice, but it's okay" kind of group. The former were not talented enough and had injuries, the later had the talent, also had injuries, but were certainly not the same level of passion.

You all notice and can see that Mr. Untouchable has now been pushed to the forefront of the team by Ballmer even though he's not a star and the team's best player. The team brass probably didn't even think twice about checking to see if Kawhi wanted to be the face or at the forefront of the team. Just knew that he wasn't down and wanted to hide out in San Diego. Hopefully Kawhi can contribute as much as possible this upcoming season, but with one half of 213 gone, the slowly phasing Kawhi out seems to be starting up. Finally building a team the right way, no more 213 suggestions of acquiring friends and family for the job.

-on another note, the media and talking heads thought Kawhi would want out with PG bolting to Philly, but he doesn't seemed phased nor has said a word of impending doom. Harden quickly resigned as well. Contrary to popular belief, maybe things aren't so bad after all from the players point of view. PG bolted and nobody else wanted out at all. That says something. I'm a PG guy mainly because he went to Fresno State, but L. Frank and the team played this correctly and I'm relived I don't have to defend him anymore around here.

[Roscoe Sheed]

As much as Kawhi pushed for PG in the end, there were rumors PG wasn't even his first choice- that he wanted Durant or Butler. So perhaps that is why Kawhi isn't so upset. Besides, they essentially traded PG for Harden- Harden is actually more vital to the team's success because they need a distributor.

[Captain Ballmer]

-on another note, the media and talking heads thought Kawhi would want out with PG bolting to Philly, but he doesn't seemed phased nor has said a word of impending doom. Harden quickly resigned as well. Contrary to popular belief, maybe things aren't so bad after all from the players point of view. PG bolted and nobody else wanted out at all. That says something. I'm a PG guy mainly because he went to Fresno State, but L. Frank and the team played this correctly and I'm relived I don't have to defend him anymore around here.

This is quite a surprise for me. L.Frank having a good summer so far.

He got away clean from PG's FA situation.
Didn't rush with panic trade for guys like Lavine.
He agreed with Harden for a contract below my expectations both years and AAV.
He quickly pulled the trigger, took DJJ from the starting 5 of Mavs who eliminated us.
Brought Batum back.
Patiently waited, completed the Dunn trade even though Russ exercised his unfriendly option.
He may have found a real NBA player in Christie with the 46th pick in the draft.
Upside move with K.Porter Jr for a low cost/high reward type.

We're waiting to see how he'll get away from PJ Tucker and Bones situations and T-mann & Zubac extensions.

So far I would grade him B+ for a GM just lost All-star without any return.

[esqtvd]

As much as Kawhi pushed for PG in the end, there were rumors PG wasn't even his first choice- that he wanted Durant or Butler. So perhaps that is why Kawhi isn't so upset. Besides, they essentially traded PG for Harden- Harden is actually more vital to the team's success because they need a distributor.

Kawhi got his. Now PG got his...elsewhere. It's a business.

I had a feeling they weren't joined at the hip. I warned last year that 213 might not re-sign here and leave Ballmer with nothing but journeymen like T-Mann and Zu along with our G-Leaguers to open his BallmerDome with.

Well, I was partially correct. First, Ballmer took one last bite at the apple and traded his last draft chip of the 2020s for Beard while still holding onto T-Mann--who Mr. Clemenza astutely points out is the face of the franchise while Kawhi is who knows where.

Mr. Untouchable has now been pushed to the forefront of the team by Ballmer even though he's not a star and the team's best player.

And Harden had no real alternative but to re-sign here as long as Ballmer's offer didn't insult him. As Mr. Sheed points out, Harden is as useful to the Clips as PG was, and he took pretty much the "insulting" offer [2 yr/$70M] that PG turned down.

So Ballmer ended up with a cross between Plans A and B, with the only homegrown Clipper [and longest-tenured] T-Mann as the face of the franchise, with two creaky but still occasionally productive HOFers still around to put on the advertising. Norman Powell and his 2 years/$40 million are only mildly tradable, but he and T-Mann can take PG's place in the ads along with Zu, whom everybody loves.

To round out the rotation, the Clips rounded up a not-bad young vet in Derrick Jones Jr and took a flyer on Kevin Porter, Jr., whose NBA readiness and legal status are promising but still questionable. That's 7. Mo Bamba makes 8.

The rest of the roster will be the surviving G-Leaguers and league-minimum veterans who get cut loose as Opening Night approaches, who will be happy to play for the richest owner and most luxurious arena in the NBA.

The house of cards that was 213 has indeed fallen; what remains is a duct-taped facsimile. But it's enough to put on the cover of the program, and the expectations game is over. 45 wins would great, and anything after that would be even greater.

But I'll tellya, I'm not paying 10 cents to go near the BallmerDome, let alone drop a week's pay to watch a roster I don't give a damn about. But hey, the LA Chargers are averaging 69,000 right next door [10th in the NFL] with a team that nobody gives a damn about either.

Ballmer bet the farm on 213 and it failed, mostly. He cut his losses in the form of cutting loose PG, and he'll still be all right. Ballmer paid $142 million last year in Luxury Tax alone but is worth over $130 BILLION. He can only go another 100 years at that rate, but won't have to.

As for us fans, hey, it's a business, and it was a business when Sterling owned it too. It is what it is.

[og15]

I think it’s … interesting. I think it illustrates PGs strengths in a couple of areas and (bigger) weaknesses in others. I do think his assessment of the Clippers/Lakers is accurate. I think he’s honest and reasonably eloquent in laying this out.

But—man! What this shows most of all is that PG didn’t commit to trying to change the narrative. Players like Elton and Lamar Odom, flawed in their own right, were willing to try and push the status quo in LA when Sterling was the owner. So was CP3. CP3, warts and all, would never have put up with a player that was so casual about his team’s fortunes and respect. He would (and did) fight and scratch and claw for the respect that PG seems to just … acknowledge and accept a lack of. To me, PG13s comments show a sense of complacency; “The Lakers were/are the A-team.” Dammit man, try and do something about it. You have the talent and teammates and owner. This is a guy who wants a max salary while not being an alpha player and not trying as hard as he could and should have to push his team to a higher level. It’s a little sad to me.

Exactly.. you don't even tell that story unless you helped change the B Team's fortune or at least altered the narrative towards the positive. You bury that story ten feet under the ground and never utter a word about since the 213 Era was a bust and you bolted out of town for a whole new situation.

Truth. The 213 era just wasn't much fun. All high expectations and even the good times were dampened by them. Kawhi has his titles elsewhere and PG is now on his 4th team, which in the end will be all more or less the same to him.

Lob City have slowly been coming to grips with their era. They did have an identity and admit that if they did not reach their full potential, it was their own fault. None of them went on to greater success elsewhere, and they [and we fans] need to look back at some very good times.

Didn't DJ win a championship? Might have not been much of a contributor but he was there

CP did get to a conference finals and then a finals, so he did have more success, but that's just the NBA, if you're not the top dog type and/or in a great organization, it's all about opportunities, health, etc.

It's not a big deal for a player to leave and have more success, just might mean that situation worked better for them at that specific time.

[KL2]

I like it. As of now we only have one 2-way left.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter