Los Angeles Clippers

Add Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard to the list of NBA players who are unhappy with the league's decision to move forward with the All-Star Game. 

Speaking to reporters after Friday's game against the Boston Celtics, Leonard said it "doesn't surprise me" that the NBA wants to hold its annual midseason exhibition. 

"We all know why we're playing it," he said. "It's money on the line ... and putting money over health, pretty much. We're playing games now and it's still a pandemic, we're doing all these protocols."

According to a memo obtained by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association expect to finalize an agreement for a single-day All-Star event in Atlanta that will take place March 7.

The event will include a traditional All-Star Game between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference, as well as a skills competition.

Several players have voiced their displeasure about holding the event amid the COVID-19 pandemic. LeBron James told reporters Thursday he has "zero energy and zero excitement" about the All-Star Game and called it "a slap in the face" to players who were counting on the weeklong break in early March.

Giannis Antetokounmpo echoed James' sentiments following the Milwaukee Bucks' win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.

"I've got zero energy, zero excitement," he told reporters. "At the end of the day, if they tell us we're gonna show up, we've got to do our job. I'm always gonna do my job. I'm always showing up, showing the right example. But at the end of the day inside, deep down, I don't want to do it. I want to get some break."

The NBA has adjusted its health-and-safety protocols during the season amid a series of issues related to COVID-19. Players can't arrive at the arena more than three hours before tipoff; all players on the bench must wear a protective facemask at all times; teams must create a seating chart on flights for road games "so that players whose assigned seats are closest to each other on the bench for games are also closest to each other on the team plane."

Despite the protocols, things continue to be bumpy for the league.

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant was pulled from Friday's game against the Toronto Raptors twice—before tipoff and later in the third quarter, after he played 19 minutes—to undergo contact tracing after someone he was in contact with tested positive.

Leonard is currently in line to be a starter in this year's All-Star Game. He ranks third among Western Conference frontcourt players in fan voting, behind James and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George has been ruled out of Friday's contest against the Boston Celtics with a foot injury, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk.

Paul George has been ruled out against Boston tonight with a sore right foot.

— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) February 6, 2021

Load management isn't going anywhere in the NBA, and resting your best players on occasion is advisable, especially in a season with a condensed schedule. However, the Clippers' postseason flameout last year showed how a team can lean too hard in that direction.

Thanks in part to George and Kawhi Leonard missing so many games, Los Angeles wasn't able to build a ton of chemistry on the court, and that became a clear issue in the playoff pressure cooker.

Aside from missing a 116-113 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 5 due to ankle soreness, George has been a steady member of the Clippers' starting lineup.

Through 20 games, the 30-year-old is averaging 24.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting 47.8 percent from three-point territory.

Fans will have expected the six-time All-Star to log another absence sooner or later. As long as he doesn't miss a prolonged stretch of action, Friday's news won't be of significant concern.  

Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George had a message for Los Angeles Lakers reserve Jared Dudley after George posted 36 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

"God bless you, Jared Dudley," he told reporters. "I don't know what it is, dudes love throwing my name in stuff. But God bless you, Jared."

In his new book, Inside the NBA Bubble: A Championship Season Under Quarantine (h/t Harrison Faigen of SB Nation), Dudley threw shade at George, saying, "It's disrespectful for Paul George, who hasn't won, to put himself on the level of Bron and AD."

"We hear some of those guys talking about how they’re the team to beat in L.A.," Dudley wrote in his book. "It's fine if Kawhi says stuff like that. He's defending a championship. We don't trip if someone like Patrick Beverley is talking trash; that's how he feeds his family. We get it. We respect the hustle."

Dudley wrote that there were Clippers billboards in Los Angeles "with Kawhi Leonard wearing a crown," adding the Lakers didn't like to see that "in our city."

But the billboards' argument fell apart in the postseason, as the Clippers were eliminated in the second round after they let go of a 3-1 series lead to the Denver Nuggets, while the Lakers went on to claim L.A. as their city and the NBA as their league when they won the title over the Miami Heat.

George has never appeared in the NBA Finals, but he has his fair share of success, with six All-Star nods and two consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances as a member of the Indiana Pacers (2012-14).

Dudley acknowledged George's career but still defended his comments Wednesday.

"My comments were more about how we viewed the motivation," Dudley said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "Paul George is a hell of a player, an MVP candidate. Doesn't mean that what he said wasn't wrong. But the difference is ... how you see how someone like LeBron and AD, them not saying anything. Them saying, 'You know what, we'll find out who the king of L.A. is on the court' last year."

The Clippers have the edge this season, with a 116-109 victory over the Lakers back on Dec. 22, and with one more game than the Lakers under their belt as of Wednesday night, they're one game ahead of the Lakers on the leaderboard, with a 17-6 record to the defending champions' 16-6 campaign.

Paul George was always going to be under the spotlight during the 2020-21 campaign after he struggled to establish much consistency as the Los Angeles Clippers lost in the second round of the playoffs last season, but head coach Ty Lue doesn't want him to focus on any outside noise.

Especially if that noise comes from Jared Dudley, apparently.

Lue was asked about Dudley's criticism of George in a book and said, "I know I can't cuss on here so I won't, but who cares? Just be who you are, play your game. Who cares what people say?"

. @LawMurrayTheNU - "Jared Dudley released a book and said Paul George is —“

Tyronn Lue cuts him off - “A book? Jared Dudley? ... I know I can't cuss on here so I won't, but who cares? Just be who you are, play your game. Who cares what people say?”#Clippers pic.twitter.com/hp0rkvLtVY

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) February 3, 2021

Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll provided more context, noting Dudley released a mini-book that was co-written by Carvell Wallace of New York Times Magazine detailing his experience winning a championship last season on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Dudley said the Purple and Gold were motivated by things such as the Clippers billboards in L.A. suggesting it was their city and took particular offense when it came to George:

"We hear some of those guys talking about how they're the team to beat in LA. It's fine if Kawhi says stuff like that. He's defending a championship. We don't trip if someone like Patrick Beverley is talking trash; that's how he feeds his family. We get it. We respect the hustle.

"But we think it's disrespectful for Paul George, who hasn't won, to put himself on the level of Bron and AD. This motivates us. When we see those guys around the compound, we don't really kick it with them. The one exception of course is Markieff, whose twin brother, Marcus, is on the Clippers. This probably keeps tensions from boiling over."

It should be noted that George went to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals when he was on the Indiana Pacers. Anthony Davis, by comparison, won a single playoff series in his entire career until he joined with LeBron James.

There was never any doubting George's talent as one of the best two-way players in the league who is a six-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection and four-time All-Defensive selection, but he was somewhat under the radar as far as superstars go when he was on the Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

That changed in 2019-20 when he came to Los Angeles and joined forces with Leonard on a championship contender and was thrust into a rivalry with the high-profile Lakers.

The noise only got louder after the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs and George scored 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting from the field and 2-of-11 shooting from three-point range in the decisive Game 7.

George even told reporters following a January altercation with the Phoenix Suns, "I've never had any words, never any altercation, there was always peace when I am on the floor but for whatever reason, there's a lot of chirping and people living in the past...I'm in a new situation, different mindset."

Lue seems to want that mindset to include blocking out the criticism.

Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George said Friday he was "super relieved" to find out he and teammate Kawhi Leonard cleared the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocols after just four days.

"We were playing so well, it was unfortunate that we had to take a hiatus, but safety's first," George told reporters after the team's 116-90 win over the Orlando Magic. "We acknowledge that first and foremost."

The duo missed two games, a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday and a win over the Miami Heat on Thursday.

"It was a bummer because we were on a good roll, and me and PG go out," Leonard said. "That's my mindset around it. Just want to play basketball and wanting to keep building on our chemistry and get better, but understand what the protocols are, and it was a chance for guys to step up and play a bigger role."

Neither All-Star missed a beat in their return to the Clippers lineup against the Magic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtsbukQUGLI

George tallied 26 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals in 28 minutes. Leonard added 24 points, four boards and three dimes in 29 minutes. L.A. as a whole shot 48.9 percent from the field after shooting below 42 percent in both of the games their franchise cornerstones missed.

The Clippers have enough depth to play without one of them for a short period of time, but trying to create offense without either one available was often a struggle.

"On a night where guys were a little tired, just having their presence was huge and that was big for us," Los Angeles head coach Tyronn Lue said. "They were just making plays for everybody else and making the game easy."

The Clippers are off to a strong start as they attempt to last the disappointment of last season's playoff exit firmly in the rearview mirror. They hold a 15-5 record, which puts them second in the Western Conference behind only the Utah Jazz (15-4).

L.A. will face off with the New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon, but the more intriguing matchup comes Tuesday night when it takes on the new-look Brooklyn Nets, who've started to show off their tremendous offensive potential following the trade for James Harden.

With Leonard and George having cleared protocols and Brooklyn's Kevin Durant sitting out Friday's win over the Oklahoma City Thunder for routine maintenance as he returns to full strength from his Achilles injury, all signs point to both teams being at full strength for Tuesday's clash.

It'll be a terrific litmus test for both teams as they continue to build toward championship form.

Los Angeles Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will miss Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks due to the NBA's health and safety protocols.

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are not flying to Atlanta with the team. Depending on the extent of NBA protocols, Leonard and/or George could potentially join the team on this road trip. https://t.co/0WUPPIfD5v

— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) January 25, 2021

Guard Patrick Beverley has also been ruled out due to right knee soreness.

Ahead of the 2020-21 season, the NBA implemented new protocols amid the coronavirus pandemic. As the league has dealt with an increased number of postponements in recent weeks, there have been new protocols put into place:

After exiting court, active players are strongly recommended to wear mask in bench area. The requirement resets at halftime (wear mask at start of second half until they enter the game). Inactive players remain required to wear mask for entire game. https://t.co/FjpAEGKltP

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 4, 2021

Los Angeles is currently scheduled to play four games over the course of the next week. In addition to Tuesday's contest against the Hawks, the Clippers are slated to face the Miami Heat (Thursday), the Orlando Magic (Friday) and the New York Knicks (Sunday). Tuesday marks the start of a six-game road trip, which will run through Feb. 3.

It's unclear how long Leonard and George will be out of the lineup. For the time being, however, the Clippers will need to find a way to win without their top two players.

Leonard is averaging 25.9 points, 5.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds in 15 games this season. George is posting 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists through 16 appearances.

The Clippers are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA's best record (13-4).

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Ty Lue told reporters star Paul George was dealing with hamstring tightness during Sunday's 108-100 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Any health questions for George, who missed time earlier this season with an ankle injury, are sure to generate some level of concern given his history. He underwent surgery on both shoulders before appearing in 28 games in 2019-20 and played just six games in 2014-15 because of a serious leg injury.

When healthy, he is one of the best two-way players in the league.

George has five All-NBA selections, four All-Defensive selections, six All-Star selections and a steals title on his resume. He is averaging 24.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game in 2020-21 for a Clippers team looking to bounce back from last season's playoff disappointment.

Los Angeles still has Kawhi Leonard to carry the offense, and the combination of Luke Kennard, Nicolas Batum, Lou Williams and Patrick Patterson will likely see more playing time if George is sidelined.

Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley was ruled out for the remainder of Sunday's matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder with right knee soreness, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.   

Beverley came into Sunday averaging 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 15 games.

It's a setback for the guard who missed the five of the first six games in last season's playoffs with a strained left calf.

The Clippers relied more on Landry Shamet, Reggie Jackson and Lou Williams while Beverley rested last season, and the team seems more than capable of handling another absence. That doesn't mean the loss won't hurt—especially with Shamet replaced by Luke Kennard. 

Los Angeles can also use Paul George to bring the ball up and get the offense moving. 

Still, not having Beverley limits what L.A. can do on both ends of the floor and forces new head coach Ty Lue and the rest of the roster to adapt its game plan.

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue spoke with reporters about coping with former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant's death nearly one year after the NBA legend died in a helicopter crash.

Lue talked about trying to move forward.

"Just being able to try to get past it," Lue said. "I don't really deal with death well. I always try to forget about it. It is just something that is tough for me, especially [with] someone I was so close to... I took down all the pictures in my room, in my house, I don't have them in my office."

Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others died in the crash, which occurred on Jan. 26, 2020, in Calabasas, California.

Lue and Bryant played together on the Lakers from 1998 to 2001, winning a pair of NBA championships. Bryant went on to win three more titles for L.A. during a 20-year career that featured 18 All-Star Game appearances, 11 All-NBA First Team nods and the 2007-08 NBA MVP award.

Lue continued speaking with reporters about grieving for his friend:

"I got to get over it because [he's] such a great guy, great person, you want to be able to celebrate him," Lue said.

"You want people to come in your office and say, 'Oh man, how was it with Kobe?' You want them to ask those questions so he can continue to live on, which he is going to do."

Lue mentioned that Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George frequently ask Lue about Bryant in hopes of soaking up more knowledge about one of the NBA's greatest all-time players.

"They always want to know how Kobe was, what he did, how he worked, how would Kobe react to this," Lue said.

"They always ask those questions all the time. They just want to know so much about him. It's tough sometimes talking about it but it's good that those guys respect him and look up to what Kobe has done as a player, a person and a businessman."

That information may be particularly useful to Leonard. Lue notably told reporters in December that he planned to use Leonard like Bryant in some triangle offense sets, much like Phil Jackson did for the Lakers.

The Clips head coach also mentioned that he does not have any pictures of him and Bryant in his office at the team facility but that he had to "get through that."

"I am going to just try to do it," Lue said.

"He is always going to live through me, through the NBA, through a lot of people. So just try to come to my office and seeing a picture of me and Kobe I think would be tough.

"But there's got to be a point where I got to get through that, continue to celebrate his life and what he has meant to me and so many other people."

Like many of Bryant's family, friends and fans, Lue, who was a Clippers assistant coach this time last year, took the crash particularly hard.

Then-Clippers head coach (and now Philadelphia 76ers head coach) Doc Rivers recalled a moment that occurred during the team's game against the Orlando Magic later that evening.

"Ty Lue was really struggling. You forget that Ty Lue was his teammate as well and I look over at Ty during the game and he's bawling. A lot of emotion tonight, it really was a tough night. Just a tough night."

The two notably got after each other in practice, with Lue once recalling a story to reporters in 2016 about how the notoriously competitive Bryant was after he blocked the legend's shot in practice.

"Long story short is, it was a game point and [Bryant] drove baseline and I was at the elbow. And he drove baseline and I went down the lane and I pinned his dunk against the glass. He tried to dunk it and I blocked it against the glass. We came down, Devean George made a layup for game and Brian Shaw went, 'Ahhh, he blocked you!' He went crazy. Kobe wanted to fight me at first and then, second, he wanted to play one-on-one after practice."

"He was so mad and then, after that, it was just, every day we stepped onto the court, he just went after me every single day," Lue added.

Bryant offered a response to Lue's story:

Ty Lue said he blocked Kobe in practice. Kobe: "I bet that I kicked his a-- in practice more than he’s blocked my shots. I’d bet on that 1."

— Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) February 10, 2016

Lue (then leading the Cleveland Cavaliers' bench in 2016) coached against Bryant's Lakers twice during that year. The Cavs won both times, but Bryant's final game against Cleveland saw him go 11-of-16 for 26 points.

For now, Lue's Clips are fighting Bryant's old team for Western Conference supremacy. Both teams lead the West (and the NBA) with matching 12-4 records.

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard said Wednesday the team isn't content despite an 11-4 record that's tied with the rival Los Angeles Lakers for the best mark in the NBA.

"Happy with the wins we're getting, but we're not satisfied," Leonard told reporters after the team's fifth straight victory, a 115-96 triumph over the Sacramento Kings.

The Clippers will likely be hesitant to celebrate any short-term successes throughout the 2020-21 campaign based on how last season played out.

They finished 49-23, the fourth-best record in the NBA and second in the West behind the Lakers, and then eliminated the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the opening round of the playoffs.

L.A. then went up 3-1 against the Denver Nuggets in the conference semifinals only to lose three straight games in a season-ending collapse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imNRujMJDdU

That said, the early signs this season are overwhelmingly positive. The Clips are playing well both at home (6-2) and on the road (5-2), and their point differential (+7.1) is third in the league.

The combination of Leonard (24.9 points per game) and Paul George (24.4) has been terrific, and the team's depth has also been a major factor, with six other players averaging over 8.5 points.

"We're still trying to get better. That's our mindset," Leonard said. "We want to keep it moving. It's the first leg of the season. We got to finish it out. We're not satisfied."

The Clippers have a favorable schedule over the next few weeks, so their hot streak should continue.

A Feb. 2 matchup with the new-look Brooklyn Nets following the addition of James Harden will surely generate a lot of attention, and it'll be a good measuring stick for L.A.