Superstars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard chose to come home and play for the LA Clippers. One of many reasons is having a championship coach in Doc Rivers.
The NBA universe is wondering why superstar Kawhi Leonard committed to the LA Clippers, pairing with Paul George as their second star. Besides the obvious reason for both stars to come home, playing under a championship level coach in Doc Rivers has a lot to do with these acquisitions.
Doc Rivers finished second in the league for Coach of the Year last season. He led a team with no superstar to the playoffs by outperforming expectations tremendously. The Clippers won 48 games last year, which is twelve more than the expected 36 win total according to “experts.”
The fact of the matter is, this is the best roster Doc Rivers has yet to work with by far, including the championship Celtics team back in 2010. Doc has had a legendary Hall of Fame coaching tenure and yet he still has much more to accomplish with the new Clipper era.
Every Clipper last season excelled and remained competitive in the midst of a deep Western Conference race. They won two games from the Warriors who were at full health, including an amazing 31 point comeback which took a lot of heart and chemistry. They showed toughness and made it a very tough playoff series. Those tendencies are unteachable, and that is what made the Clippers an appealing destination for Kawhi and George.
This is a team already familiar and successful under Doc’s system, so fitting in these superstars will be no challenge. Kawhi and PG have expressed their admiration for Doc, “getting the most he can out of every single player on his team, everyone plays hard every night and they play to win.” George said when asked about his coach at the Introductory Press Conference.
Kawhi Leonard: "We got something special and we can make history here. We got the right players to do it." #Clippers
— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) July 24, 2019
Considering this will be the most defensive talented group he has coached, they will be poised for a finals run immediately. A lineup including Patrick Beverley, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George makes their half-court defense suffocating. It is no secret defense wins championships, and Paul explains how being a two-player is a “lost art in the NBA where guys want to get after it both ends of the floor.” That is his way of rebranding Clippers basketball.
Kawhi Leonard on the #Clippers front office: "They did everything right, just letting me play ball and not trying to call anyone’s cell phone. They took the right steps of doing it the legal way and waited until they were able to talk to me, and I liked that about them.”
— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) July 25, 2019
It became apparent that this free agent race on which team is going to sign Kawhi Leonard, was closer than imagined. The main factors in his decision came down to family and professionalism, as Kawhi explains himself in an interview with Rachel Nichols of ESPN.
"It was about where I wanted to be, and where my [in home family] was going to be happy at. I wanted to be with people who had some pedigree in the front office as far as the coaching staff goes."
One thing became clear, and that is that Kawhi wanted an experienced championship coach, and to make a history of their own. He also referenced the Clippers as a ‘tough NBA blacktop team that goes hard on both ends of the floor. A team who always wants to win no matter which game it is. This style of play makes a perfect fit for Leonard, along with Paul George.
Doc says this is just the beginning, and it is not the finest moment for the Clippers, it is indeed coming and he ensures they are getting to work right away. That type of mentality and leadership separated this Clipper team from the others in the race.