The Los Angeles Clippers are getting set to start their season soon and fans are looking for the latest news and rumors.
Check out the latest buzz below.
Griffin and Paul Talk Playoff Exit
Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are among the Clippers looking forward to another shot at a championship run after the exit during the playoffs earlier this year.
Paul says he’s aware of the reputation he has as not being able to make it to the finals.
“It’s the truth, it doesn’t matter if it’s fair or not,” Paul said. “That’s a huge deal, especially to me and us as a team. This year it’s about the process. It would be nice if we could start the playoffs tomorrow but we have a lot of work to do before that. I understand last year we had a great opportunity and Game 5 [of the Western Conference semifinals] was horrible and it’s no secret why we lost Game 5 but this year gives us an opportunity to get right back there. They say history tends to repeat itself but this is one of those where we hope it doesn’t.”
Griffin added:
“It shouldn’t be focused on just one person. One guy can’t win or lose on his own. It’s not fair to put any type of blame on anyone. We were all out there playing and we all made mistakes and we all did things we wish we could change. It’s not whether it’s fair or not, it is what it is. It is a reality: we haven’t gotten past the second round. We can’t hang our heads and feel sorry. We have to take that responsibility as a team.”
Clippers Add Assistant Coaches
The Clippers officially announced the additions of Sam Cassell, Lawrence Frank, and Mike Woodson as assistant coaches.
We have an impressive and experienced group of coaches who are excited to get to work,” coach Doc Rivers said in a statement.
“Mike and Lawrence have enjoyed tremendous success as head coaches and Sam is someone who I coached as a player and respected as an assistant with the Wizards. I am excited to continue to work with the entire staff as we prepare for the season.”
Cassell is an especially big addition, deciding to leave the Wizards after providing tutelage for budding star John Wall.
New Owners Boosts Clippers
Rivers loves nothing more than talking basketball. And with the scandal involving former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling beginning to fade into the background, Rivers welcomes returning the focus squarely to the team and its performance.
“We’re going to talk about basketball and that’s very nice,” he said Monday. “Last season during the playoffs there were very few questions about basketball.”
The courtroom drama over the team’s ownership subsided earlier this summer, with Sterling ousted after 33 years after being banned for life by the NBA for racist remarks, and Steve Ballmer plunking down a record $2 billion to buy the franchise.
“It’s been a long summer,” Paul said. “A lot of interesting things happened.”
Griffin added, “All the new changes have been positive and given us new life.”
Already different is Rivers’ burgeoning relationship with ownership. He almost never spoke to Sterling. In contrast, he chats frequently by phone with Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO who lives in Seattle.
“It’s been really good,” Rivers said. “He’s given me a lot of room. He’s allowed us to do basically anything we wanted within reason.”
Rivers hired three new assistants: former NBA head coaches Mike Woodson and Lawrence Frank, and 15-year league veteran Sam Cassell.
Ballmer’s first big move, giving Rivers a five-year contract extension through the 2018-19 season, was a hit with the players.
“It’s stability moving forward,” Griffin said. “It shows he’s committed to making the right moves to try to win a championship. That was a very smart move on his part.”
Ballmer made a quick first impression on 7-footer DeAndre Jordan.
“The first time I met him he bought me dinner, so I liked him a lot,” he joked.
The Clippers open training camp in Las Vegas on Tuesday knowing more of what to expect from Rivers’ system than they did a year ago when he was new.
“It’ll be a more productive training camp,” said Paul, who enters his fourth season together with Griffin and Jordan, the team’s Big Three who set the tone on and off the court. “Doc talked to us about let’s not have any bad days.”
The Clippers had the best record in franchise history at 57-25 and won a second straight Pacific Division title last season. But they again failed to get past the second round of the playoffs, losing to Oklahoma City as the Sterling controversy exploded near the start of the playoffs.
Rivers credited his team for not using it as an excuse for why it lost.
“Our guys did a great job not being part of the story,” he said.
Rivers was a stabilizing force for the franchise during the upheaval created by Sterling, who prolonged the ownership battle with a series of court filings before a judge upheld the team’s sale to Ballmer.
“We’re a resilient group,” said Jamal Crawford, who won the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award last season. “We showed a lot of character and heart.”
Jordan insisted the team didn’t need discord to rally around each other.
“We’ve always been close,” he said. “We were as tight as we were today three years ago.”
Despite the off-court tumult, the Clippers kept their core group together, including Matt Barnes, recent first-time father J.J. Redick, and Glen Davis. They added 7-footer Spencer Hawes to complement Jordan, re-signed Hedo Turkoglu and replaced the departed Darren Collison with another former UCLA star, Jordan Farmar.
“We have a real opportunity to do something special,” said Farmar, who left the downtrodden Lakers.
Barnes, who turns 35 in March, is especially eager to atone for the last couple of early playoff exits. He reports to camp at 210 pounds, a number he hasn’t seen since high school.
Barnes said Sterling had the team heading in the right direction the last three years, presumably with Rivers’ hiring and the addition of Paul. But he credits Ballmer’s arrival as rejuvenating for the team and the city.
“His face gets all red and his hands get all sweaty,” Barnes said. “You don’t see that every day. I love that and it gives me chills to think about it.
“It’s our time to shine.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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