Kawhi Leonard Never in Lovkerroom Again

(via Yahoo Sports)

What was thought to be i of the best stories in the NBA this season is slowly turning into a nightmare as the days go by. The Los Angeles Clippers got themselves 2 of the best players on earth during the offseason, improving their bid to win the NBA title considerably.

Even so, in that location are some things they demand to effigy out if they want to be completely successful when the playoffs arrive. According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, "tension had been quietly building" in the Clippers' locker room and is in part, thanks to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the two stars supposed to have this team to the promised state.

It seems like there are some chemistry bug between players that are preventing some of them to become the stars they want to be or average the numbers they want.

Via The Athletic:

"We don't know each other yet and we have non been tested still. In that location are a lot of obstacles hopefully that we have moving forwards and it's not bad to hear that we understand. Just like I ever tell our guys, 'There's a difference betwixt work in progress and progress, and the work is the nigh of import role.' You have to put in the work. So nosotros have to empathize that."

After Rivers' spirited private response, Harrell — who was upset with the media for what he felt was taking his quotes out of context — did not speak to Los Angeles reporters later the next two home games (wins over the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors).

Tension had been quietly building in the locker room, according to multiple sources, just Harrell's comments confirmed the uncomfortability some felt. The comments also rubbed certain players the wrong way, as they feel that Harrell's post-game mood tin exist dictated more by his individual box-score performance than the game'south outcome, according to sources.

Besides, several players believe their preparation sessions aren't as hard or as serious every bit they should. At some point we learned that Paul George and Kawhi Leonard hadn't trained together, and so this might not be a total surprise for a lot of people. Everything has an explanation, though, as Clippers head coach Doctor Rivers' teams don't practice often, a primal he adopted back in his days with the Boston Celtics:

This is part of a larger systemic issue for the team. Rivers' teams don't practice often, which is a principle he adopted in Boston.

Rivers understands the grind of an 82-game flavour, and is willing to concede practice time if it means his players will stay healthier and play harder in games. As Rivers has joked all season, he was one of the early pioneers of load direction.

But that, combined with the team's abiding injuries, the front-loaded schedule and Leonard's injury management, has created a lighter mood and approach to practices. Multiple players, co-ordinate to league sources, don't feel the team practices as difficult or as seriously as it should at this point in the flavour.

Leonard and George didn't play for the Clippers on Midweek confronting the Hawks. The team was simply resting Leonard since it was the second night of a back-to-back, while George is withal nursing a hamstring injury.

It looks like this is a cocktail for disaster, every bit this is not the only thing bothering players correct now. This report goes on to say that Kawhi and George have lowkey become a problem for the special treatment they receive from the team.

"Off the court, sources say there are some teammates who have struggled with the organization's preferential treatment that is afforded to Leonard and George."

"I retrieve it boils down to Kawhi not talking, then who is their true leader?" i source with knowledge of the Clippers' dynamics said. "How do yous get around that?"

He isn't necessarily standoffish, sources say, and there are times when he lives up to that "Fun Guy" reputation that has go role of his one-of-a-kind profile — even more so recently as he's grown more comfortable around his teammates. He's certainly more talkative and playful behind the scenes than in front of the media, when he rarely says a word exterior of the scrum of reporters who speak to him, on average, for a few minutes at a time. Just in that location tin exist a tangible distance, sources say.

Multiple players, according to league sources, don't feel the team practices as hard or as seriously as it should at this point in the season.

However, it looks similar the players are trying to effigy things out for the team'south sake. According to Amick, afterwards the Clippers got embarrassed by the Memphis Grizzlies and most beaten by the New York Knicks at home at the start of the month, players went to dinner and bowling to shake off the bad vibes.

To shake off some of the foreign vibes, several players decided to round up players for dinner and bowling on their second day off, co-ordinate to league sources. Interacting off of the floor has never been a problem for the group, which has enjoyed off-court activities like paintballing, fishing and movie-screening before and during the flavor.

The Clippers are having a mixed season if nosotros take a look at it, and this news isn't the most favorable for them. They put together a skillful core of players, only things oasis't gone as expected. To make things worse, their 2 biggest stars are condign a distraction and the rest of the team isn't happy and that'due south something that must change every bit soon as possible.

Luckily for them, the players are actually taking action to try to improve the state of affairs. It's important to see the bigger motion picture here, which is the title, and outset to work to reach that goal.

Leonard and PG landed in Los Angeles to make this team truthful candidates for the title. The Clippers however take a good tape, but plenty of fans believe they're missing something that takes them to the next level. They've beaten the Lakers twice, but that hasn't made them the best team in the Western Conference, the place that belongs to their neighbors.

The Clips have everything to be successful this yr. It's up to them to work things out and finally become that dangerous squad everyone wanted to see earlier the starting time of the season.

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Source: https://fadeawayworld.net/nba-media/nba-rumors-there-is-a-problem-in-the-clippers-locker-room-because-of-kawhi-leonard-and-paul-george

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