Ever since Paul George and Kawhi Leonard joined the Los Angeles Clippers in the summer of 2019, the team and its fans have had very high hopes each season.
Every year, the expectation has been that the Clippers would be one of the favorites, if not the favorite, to win the NBA championship, but they have fallen well short of such expectations each time.
George recently said that as the years have worn on, he has changed his leadership style to become more of a vocal influence on his teammates, via the team’s Twitter account.
“My leader style definitely has changed.” –@Yg_Trece
📺 “Clippers’ Clipboard” airing Sept. 14 on @KTLA pic.twitter.com/YV6Z9pyGlf
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) September 7, 2023
George is about to enter his 14th season, and he is showing no signs of slowing down, as he averaged 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.1 assists a game while earning his eighth All-Star Game selection last season.
Perhaps one reason he has become a more vocal leader is because Leonard is famously introverted and, some would say, even uncommunicative.
There does seem to be a bit of a leadership void on the Clippers since they don’t have a true floor general and especially since loquacious guard Patrick Beverley is long gone.
But perhaps their biggest problem is the fact that Leonard and George are injury-prone.
George has never appeared in as many as 60 games in a single season for L.A., and last season, he suffered a sprained right knee that kept him out for the rest of the schedule and all of their first-round playoff loss to the Phoenix Suns.
With George at age 33 and Leonard an old 32, the clock is starting to tick louder and louder for the Clippers.
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