LOS ANGELES — On July 5th, 2019, the basketball scene had its eyes set on the summer league with the arrival of the phenom Zion Williamson. However, that quickly became an afterthought with not only Williamson getting hurt early in the game, but the basketball world had one of the biggest bombshells in NBA history.
After much anticipated time, NBA Superstar Kawhi Leonard, who was just coming off an NBA championship, finally made his decision to come back home to play for Los Angeles. However, not for the well-known Los Angeles Lakers filled with all-time greats and prestige history, but for the other team who were looking to build a culture, the LA Clippers. Followed by another top-caliber player who was coming off an MVP season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Paul George.
The move was the start of what not just the Clippers organization, but the basketball world thought was the beginning of a championship team led by these two special caliber players. However, within five years together, the Kawhi-PG era only ended in one conference championship appearance. When people hear that, they look at the plan as a failure, but like many people who read the contract, they don’t read the fine print and the details.
How could a Duo of Leonard-George, who did not win a championship in five years, be considered dominant?
Championship Expectations
In the 2019 playoffs, the Clippers were an eighth seed led by Lou Williams and Patrick Beverly putting up a tough fight in a first round exit to the Golden State Warriors. However, championship expectations were not echoed until the Leonard and George Duo was born.
When was the last time the Clippers were looked at as championship material? Lob city? Sure, they were talented and exciting to watch, but Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, or Deandre Jordan had sniffed a championship. Leonard, at the time, was a 2-time champion and 2-time finals MVP. George, while he wasn’t a champion yet, had already reached the Conference finals twice with the Indiana Pacers, something the Clippers have never done in their entire history.
When you pick up arguably the best two-way Duo in the league, who are elite on both ends of the ball, this comes to little to no surprise. When you factor in that Leonard-George started playing together right at their prime, this comes to little to no surprise. The expectations were certainly there, so let’s look at the results.
Winning percentage together
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will finish their 5 years together having played just 26 playoff games together.
They finish with a 137-70 record when playing together, a .662 winning percentage.
They finished 124-57 (.685) together in the regular season and 13-13 (.500)…
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) July 1, 2024
When it comes to dominance, some of the examples fans may use to cement athletes’ greatness are Michael Jordan’s 6-0 finals record, Tom Brady’s seven super bowls, Floyd Mayweather’s 50-0 record, and so on. Now, of course, those examples have won championships, but the examples also circle around the winning percentage when they were in action.
According to the numbers, Leonard and George Duo were well above average and considered dominant when they were actually on the court together. This is something that many fans may not even know because they don’t look at the context. Unfortunately, the narrative seems to scream louder than the truth when it comes to what sells.
Injuries at the wrong time
While it is true that Leonard and George were one of the top three duos in the NBA when they were healthy. This became the primary reason why the ultimate goal wasn’t met. Four out of five years, either both or one of the other was not able to complete a playoff run. Looking back at NBA history, we have not seen any elite Duo experience multiple postseasons missed together in their primes.
The reality is that opportunities year after year were taken away from the Clippers, and it was out of their control.
In 2021, the Clippers made it to their first Western Conference finals in franchise history. The series against the Utah Jazz was when it seemed Leonard and George were playing at the highest level together. Games 3 and 4 at home, Leonard and George both scored over 30 points, while the Jazz star Donovan Mitchell was struggling. It seemed like everything was about to go the Clippers’ way, and they were going to advance to the next round, proving they were the better team, which they did, but the injury bug hit at the wrong time.
In Game 4 vs the Jazz in the conference semi-finals, Leonard had an awkward play where he was hurt unintentionally by Jazz Forward Joe Ingles, which was initially ruled as a knee sprain. After the Clippers were eliminated by the Phoenix Suns in the next round, it was found out to be a torn ACL, which not only kept him out in the 2021 playoffs but would sideline him for the 2021-22 season. This is when George seemed to be holding the fort down for the Clippers and playing at a high level. So, the 2021 and 2022 playoffs were simply that the Clippers’ best player was unavailable.
In the 2022-23 season, a season filled with a lot of caution post ACL injury for Leonard and George dealing with a hyper extension he had towards the end of the season against the Thunder. The Duo played their fewest games together at 38 with a record of 24-14. The 2023 playoffs weren’t any better.
Paul George off with knee hyperextension injury. Sadly brings many possibilities..
Best case: bone bruise, PCL/capsular sprain
Worst case: ACL injury
Hope for best case but concerned with
significant hyperextension movement 🙏🏼 Quote via @nrlphysio pic.twitter.com/EiYXISGiOG
— Beastbrook (@Beastbr00k0) March 22, 2023
In the first round versus the Phoenix Suns, Leonard, coming off a game 1 38-point game performance, was reportedly playing on a torn meniscus. Of course, no one could tell because of how dominant he seemed to be, but it wasn’t until after the series was over that the injury was confirmed. George didn’t play the entire series versus the Suns, still recovering from his hyper extension injury. From 2021 to 2023, one or both stars did not play or complete the playoff run.
In the 2023-24 season, Leonard and George played 65 out of 82 games together, where they had a record of 41-22. Another winning regular season together for the Duo, but once again, injuries would be in the way. In the last month of the season, Leonard experienced knee swelling that would keep him out for the duration of the season. The Clippers, led by George, were able to keep the Clippers at the fourth seed and have home court in the first round vs the Mavericks.
Paul George in the last 20 games:
25.0 PPG
5.2 RPG
3.5 APG
1.5 SPG
52/48/92
PG is quietly having one of the best seasons of his career in year 14, he turns 34 next month. pic.twitter.com/rWOLerqNJ0
— ۟ (@CookedByZa) April 10, 2024
In the 2024 playoffs versus the Mavericks, the Clippers were dominant in game 1, and Leonard returned for games 2 and 3, but just like the tenure of the Leonard-George Duo, things did not go as planned. Leonard was unable to play at his peak powers and was ultimately ruled out for the rest of the series, and the Clippers would lose the series in six games. This disappointing exit would be the one that split the Duo for good.
In the 2024 off-season, the Clippers and George did not come to an agreement with a contract deal, and that would lead him to move on to the Philadelphia 76ers, where he would sign a four year/$212 million deal. That would be the end of their five tenure together with a record of 137-70 (.662) when one hears that the dominance was there.
While the ultimate goal was not met for the 213 era. Surprisingly, that five year tenure will go down as the most winning era in Clippers history. Filled with star power, conference finals appearance, high seeded regular seasons, jersey sales and merchandise, etc. There is much to be appreciated about for what Leonard and George brought. To look primarily at the championships is perfectly fine, but be sure to attach the reasoning along with the success they brought to the organization.