This summer, faced with the Clippers' financial concerns, Paul George made the decision to leave Los Angeles to join Joel Embiid and the Sixers. For Tyronn Lue, it's a significant loss, which clearly changes the face of his team.
To the point of losing a large part of his ambitions, regularly focused on the summits since 2019 and the arrival of “PG13” in California in the company of Kawhi Leonard?
“When you lose a guy of Paul George's stature, people immediately think the Clippers can't win or they're not going to be competitive,” knows the Los Angeles coach. “But it makes it even more of a challenge. Sure, people forget about us and think we're not going to be good anymore. It gives me an extra dose of motivation: I can't wait to prove everyone wrong.”
Not a failure, but it didn't work…
How do you replace an All-Star who averaged 23 points on nearly 40 percent 3-point shooting in 263 games with the Clippers? “When you lose an important player like Paul George, you have to do it collectively”Tyronn Lue had specified in July. Thus, Los Angeles signed Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, Kris Dunn and Kevin Porter Jr.
Not to mention Kawhi Leonard, who holds the keys to this team. When healthy, he mechanically makes the Clippers a title contender. But will he be? He was injured and absent during the playoffs and even withdrew from the Olympics… “I talk to him all the time. He feels good and will be ready for training camp.”reassures the coach.
What is the outcome of these five seasons with the George-Kawhi duo? A conference final in 2021 and a lot of regrets. Not really a success, right? “I don't see it as a failure. We never put our best team on the field in the playoffs.”Tyronn Lue replies.
