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LA Clippers Players as RPG Classes

By Seth Kimbrell

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 26: Lou Williams #23 of the LA Clippers looks on during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 26, 2019 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 26: Lou Williams #23 of the LA Clippers looks on during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 26, 2019 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 13: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors looks on against the Golden State Warriors during Game Six of the 2019 NBA Finals on June 13, 2019 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 13: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors looks on against the Golden State Warriors during Game Six of the 2019 NBA Finals on June 13, 2019 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

We know the front office built a great basketball team, but did they also build a balanced RPG party? We compare LA Clippers players to RPG classes.

I love Role Playing Games. I play one game of Dungeons and Dragons (DND) weekly, and I DM for two other games weekly. I play Elder Scrolls and The Witcher and Dragon Age and basically any RPG I can get my hands on. One of my favorite aspects of a good RPG is the character customization – being able to choose a class and pick the exact specialty that you want.

I also love basketball. I’ve been a Clippers fan for years and have all the best watering holes in my town to watch the big games charted out. Today is one of those magical days where I get to combine these two interests. What would some of our players look like if, instead of a basketball team, they were a dungeon-crawling party?

For what it’s worth, I’m gonna use DND classes: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard. I think they’re all pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll give a little explanation as needed, for those of you who spend less time huddled around a table than I do.

Kawhi Leonard – Fighter

Let’s get it started with the biggest addition of the offseason.

Until very recently, I would have listed Kawhi Leonard as your typical rogue assassin. Quiet, often overlooked, but deadly. That reminds me a lot of the Klaw, but his offseason dealings changed my mind.

A Fighter is a person who is on the front line, not backing down from anybody. For the most part, there’s not one thing that a Fighter does at an incredibly specialized level; instead, they’re very good at just about everything. Very reminiscent of Kawhi; he’s not a Curry-level shooter, he’s not Giannis attacking the paint, and now that he’s an offensive force he isn’t quite a defensive specialist anymore either. But he does everything well; there’s not really a weakness to his game, and he uses that to grind out wins on the court.

There is a sub-class of Fighter (an archetype that lets you pick what kind of Fighter you are) called Battlemaster. A Battlemaster is sort of a battlefield tactician; on their turn, they can direct their allies where to move and when to attack to give them the best chance of victory.

Kinda sounds like this offseason, right? As we were all wondering where the Klaw was going to sign, it turns out he was talking with KD and Jimmy Butler and, eventually, Paul George. He was trying (successfully) to talk somebody into coming to the Clippers with him in order to build his best chance at winning. That sounds right along the lines of a tactician to me.

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