Why the LA Clippers are suddenly the hottest team in the NBA

LA Clippers Assistant coach Brian Shaw doesn’t like comparisons to Kobe Bryant. but he Is One of a handful of people who played with and coached Bryant, so he is reluctantly an authority on the matter.

And he’s willing to admit that he sees glimpses of Bryant in the recent play of a particular NBA superstar, who has quietly led the league in scoring and steals since Dec. 20 as the Clippers have revived their season. From adversity.

He will be a franchise cornerstone kawhi leonard. “If I had to make any comparison in terms of what I saw with Kobe, it’s the work ethic that once either one of them makes up their mind about something,” Shaw told ESPN.

There are dozens of stories Shaw could tell to make his point, but the one that comes to mind is from the beginning of Bryant’s career when Shaw was one of the legends at the end of the Lakers bench. It was January 7, 2003, and Los Angeles Lakers Gary was in Seattle to face Payton and the Sonics.

“We were in a shootaround,” Shaw said. “And one of the Seattle reporters said to him, ‘Yeah, my daughter really loves your game, but she says if there’s one thing you lack, you don’t have a 3-point shot.’ Bryant turned to the reporter. He asked them to ensure that their daughter attended the game that night. “Then,” Shaw said, “Kobe stayed there and made 3 after 3 shots from everywhere on the floor.” That night, Bryant hit a then-NBA record dozen 3-pointers, inspired to, as Shaw said, “do something that nobody said he couldn’t do.”

Which brings us back to Leonard. Although the ball isn’t the same as Bryant was two decades ago, the skill is – and so are the results. The Lakers won that night by 21. And the Clippers, despite them 6-21 startThe hottest team in basketball.

Leonard – and his huge strides in perimeter shooting – is the reason.

for about two Years later, the Clippers’ coaching staff requested Leonard to expand his range. They knew what his comfort level was in the middle, and how much he enjoyed dominating inside, but they also knew that their offense would flounder if he went outside. They also knew how much he took care of his body and wanted to protect him from constant exposure to paint.

Assistant coach Jeremy Castleberry has been working with Leonard since his days in San Antonio. Coach Tyronn Lue affectionately calls him the “Kawhi Whisperer” because he knows how to get to Leonard.

Finally, in December, as the two men talked about the development of Leonard’s game as he approached his mid-30s, and the Clippers’ offense became increasingly disorganized, Leonard took over.

“I told TLU I was going to shoot 12 3s and he said, ‘How?’ And I said, ‘You’re going to see,'” Leonard said.

Then, like Bryant in the Seattle game all those years ago, he went out and did what he said he would do.

Leonard has averaged seven 3-pointers on his career attempts this season, but almost nine since Dec. 20, when he took 12 3-pointers in the Clippers’ 103-88 win over the Lakers.

In Leonard’s retelling, he ultimately agreed under pressure from Lue and Castleberry because the team was in such dire straits that it made sense to try something new.

“We were in a hole,” Leonard said. “So I just tried to see what we needed and I thought that’s what we needed. If I shoot more 3s and keep shooting even if I struggle and the ball doesn’t go in, it will encourage guys to shoot the ball even if it doesn’t go in.” Once Leonard committed to shooting more from outside, it unlocked the Clippers’ offense. Before December 20, the team ranked 23rd in offense.

Since then, Leonard has hit over 43% of his 3-point attempts, which has drawn defenders out and opened up space for him and other teammates to drive or cut. The Clippers rank second on offense and score nearly eight more points per 100 possessions. They are 16-3 in their last 19 games.

And it’s easy on his body too. Leonard’s career has been defined by spectacular play and devastating injuries. “Ever since I’ve been here, Ty has been trying to get easy shots at him where he doesn’t have to worry about it every time,” Shaw said.

“He already had the work ethic and methodology of how he does things. And now Kawhi has taken 3-point attempts and worked on it day in and day out with Jeremy. He’s really, really focused.” When Leonard is healthy and playing like this, expectations rise for what he and the Clippers can accomplish. That’s why the bet they made on him in 2019 has been such a crushing loss so far — because, at one point or another every year, Leonard has relative health and talent.

Since his arrival in 2019, the Clippers have won more than 66% of their games when Leonard has been on the floor. Of the games he has missed, he has won only 49%. “This is my fifth season here,” Shaw said. “Once I saw how good he really was, I thought every year we would have had a chance to reach the Promised Land if not only he, but also our team, had been completely healthy.” This is the eternal conundrum with Leonard, and it is fundamentally insoluble. When he’s healthy, he’s still one of the most dominant players of this generation. When he isn’t, the Clippers’ fate is clearly tied to something they can neither control nor fully understand.

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Kawhi goes coast-to-coast with an official dunk

Kawhi Leonard quickly walks down the court and dunks for the Clippers.

james harden sits Next to Leonard in the Clippers locker room. Recently he has begun to believe that he may be the closest teammate Leonard has ever had. This doesn’t mean they’re particularly close. No one has even been to each other’s houses in Los Angeles.

“I’m still trying to crack the code,” Harden told ESPN.

But in terms of shared experiences and understanding, Harden thinks he’ll probably get along with Leonard as well as anyone else. “Sharing the locker next to him, I think I get the most out of him,” Harden said. “To be honest, I don’t even know, I might have gotten the most out of him since he’s been in the league.”

Lue credited both Harden and Leonard for helping the Clippers dig out of their early-season hole. According to ESPN Research, among the 146 two-man combinations that have played at least 700 minutes together, Harden and Leonard’s offensive rating ranks eighth, and it is the fourth best among any pair not on the Nuggets.

What Harden has learned shows that Leonard’s entire world revolves around optimizing every bit of energy he devotes to basketball, so that whatever is left in his body can be used while the Clippers play meaningful playoff basketball.

He avoids sugary beverages and eats well. Last year during the playoffs, he removed some bottles of Gatorade that had been left on the lectern for him at the post-game news conference.

“Children don’t need to drink it,” he said.

In October, she invited a group of 30 local high school students to the Intuit Dome for a guided mindfulness program that included gentle yoga and sound bathing. “If you practice this every day,” Leonard said while demonstrating the reverse warrior yoga pose to high school kids, “those aches and pains will go away.”

It’s a simple sentiment, but Leonard really believes — or at least hopes — it’s true for him one day.

“Most people won’t have the mental capacity to come back [from injury] The way he did, they would have just given up,” Harden said. “But he is at it.”

Harden looks over to Leonard’s locker as he expresses his admiration for his teammate. Six fancy water bottles are kept on the top shelf. Upon closer inspection, the glass bottles are from a brand called Holstein, a premium alkaline water from the Austrian Alps. A six-pack sells for $71.

“It’s the best water on Earth,” Leonard told ESPN. “It’s naturally alkaline. They don’t do anything to make it alkaline. And it’s in glass bottles so there’s no plastic or bad stuff in it.”

Leonard’s preference for alkaline water dates back to his San Antonio days. He particularly favors warm alkaline water with lemon juice.

“I learn something new every day with him,” Harden said. “I don’t even know if he tries to [mysterious] Intentionally. I just think that’s the way he is. Some people are just out of touch and don’t want people to know them on purpose.”

If there’s one thing that’s remained constant in a career full of setbacks, it’s this: Teammates and those around Kawhi have never questioned his work ethic — or his willingness to do anything from meditation and yoga to insanely expensive artesian alkaline water to return to the game. “He really loves basketball,” Harden said. “And he works hard so he can keep playing.”

So far, he has. Since that December 20 game, Leonard is No. 1 in net rating among players who have played 500 or more minutes.

The question, as it always is with Leonard and the Clippers, is whether it can all work out.