LOS ANGELES — The LA Clippers stopped being contenders in 2024. That marked the third straight postseason that the team failed to win a playoff series. Maybe a team can be a contender with no actual relevant recent track record of being a contender, but that’s not how I analyze these things.
Not being a contender doesn’t mean that you won’t compete. In a league that has to answer for one issue after another, many fans and media are under the assumption that not being a contender means that you ought to tank but make sure the tank is not too grievous, because that could get you fined.
When Kawhi Leonard responded to a question about the Clippers’ status as contenders after Thursday night’s win over an allegedly contending Denver Nuggets team (a game which had much more relevant things to discuss), he provided an answer that was easy to be taken out of context.
“Just develop it over time,” Leonard said Thursday night. “I mean, I think it’s over now. It’s the second half, a fourth of the season left. But every day is a day to grow, a day to learn and get better. So you just gotta keep looking over time and see in two weeks if we’re getting better and see what happens from there.”
Friday night, the Clippers didn’t win. The Los Angeles Lakers beat them 125-122. But even with a home crowd advantage, a rest advantage, a health advantage to begin the game, a 16-point first-half lead, one of the softer flagrant fouls you’ll ever see, a season-high eight 3s from Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves’ first start since Christmas and first game north of 30 minutes since Dec. 10, the departure of John Collins because of a head injury just before halftime, the departure of Leonard in clutch time because of left ankle soreness, and the disqualification of Bennedict Mathurin (given one of the softer technical fouls you’ll ever see) because of four fourth-quarter fouls, the Lakers still had to survive Nicolas Batum’s steal and game-tying 3-point attempt that missed in the final seconds.
Lue entered the postgame press conference upset at a missed opportunity for another statement win, one that could have evened the Clippers’ record for the first time since early November. And Lue was defiant.
“You saw it, that’s who we are,” Lue said. “This group, we’re gonna compete. We’re going to fight every night. And that doesn’t look like a f—ing team that’s trying to lose to me. Like, we’re gonna scrap every night. And that’s who we are.
“JC goes down. Kawhi goes out. Benn fouls out. And guys are still scrambling and competing. Had a chance to tie it up with a shot at the end. I mean, that’s who we are. So the teams that are going to play against us, they’re gonna be in for a dogfight, every night.”
That wasn’t all Lue was testy about, as Lue criticized the Lakers for “foul-baiting the whole game,” with Doncic drawing nine fouls (the same number as Mathurin) and Reaves drawing five (the same number as Leonard). But Lue may have already been in a mood because of the viral response to Leonard’s fairly innocuous comments Thursday night.
There are a lot of things that are “over” for the Clippers. A team that had high expectations going into this year was hoping to get off to a fast start so they could rest their old veterans during the regular season’s stretch run. That’s over. That dream died in November, when the Clippers won only two games out of 15 in the month, lost starting shooting guard Bradley Beal because of season-ending hip surgery, removed veterans Brook Lopez and Chris Paul from the rotation (one amicably, the other not so much), and was only able to play Leonard more than 30 minutes once due to right ankle and foot sprains.
The Clippers that had James Harden and Ivica Zubac on it? It was a nice run, but that’s over. Harden found a new team, and the Clippers sold high on Zubac as well. In between those two trades, Leonard said from the Clippers locker room when asked about an unfinished run with future Hall of Famers Harden and Paul George and Russell Westbrook: “From what aspect? I mean, it’s over. Guys are gone.”
Actions normally speak louder than words. And the actions of the Clippers and Leonard since the trade deadline should have meant something. They barely won in Sacramento two weeks ago, but then they crushed the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center, site of the last two Western Conference Finals. The Clippers lost in Houston, but then came back the following night and stole a win from the allegedly contending Rockets.
On Friday night, the Clippers had a chance to get to .500 if they could beat the Lakers. Lue fielded questions about Leonard turning the page on the previous version of the team as it related to LA’s status as a contender. Lue had a different interpretation of Leonard’s comments than what has been represented externally.
“We’re playing to win,” Lue said, coming close to channeling former New York Jets head coach Herm Edwards. “I don’t care if it’s young, old, toddlers — whoever is on the floor, we’re trying to win. I mean, we’re trying to win. There’s no other reason to play.”
Lue had to address the same line of questioning two minutes later in his pregame press conference. This time, Lue refuted the idea that many people were running with based on viral video: that Leonard had closed the door on the season.
“He didn’t say that,” Lue said. “He said the window is closed for being a contender, to win a championship. So that doesn’t mean making the playoffs. You’d have to ask him, but when I get into a playoff series, I like my chances. So let’s get there and see what happens. You got to ask Kawhi about the contention part or whatever. But I thought he was just saying as far as contender when he first got here, you have PG, Kawhi. You have James, you have Russ. You have Zu.
“And so now having a younger team, we got to play different. We got to do things different. We gotta do things better. But there’s no doubt in my mind that we are good enough to try to make the playoffs. If we do, and if I get in a playoff series, I like my chances.”
Before Lue left the press conference room, he was even more candid: “We’re playing to win, motherf——!”
Perhaps the Clippers have confused many fans and media over these last two seasons. They had low expectations going into the 2024-25 season, but exceeded them with Harden leading the way and playing at an All-NBA level. The Clippers had higher expectations this season, underachieved severely, responded by playing well enough to possibly get back to .500 before March, then traded their second- and third-best players.
The Clippers never stopped competing, though. After all, the team is trying to keep the longest active streak of consecutive winning seasons going. As Leonard said, the Clippers should keep at it and see where they are in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, that doesn’t leave everyone hanging on every Leonard interaction between now and then.