According to Marc Stein of The New York Times, both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George of the LA Clippers attended a camp hosted by Kobe Bryant.
Marc Stein of The New York Times revealed on Thursday that Kobe Bryant hosted an invite-only camp for select NBA players. Of this group, both LA Clippers’ superstars, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, were invited.
According to Stein, other players included in this exclusive camp were Kyrie Irving, De’Aaron Fox, Jamal Murray, Isaiah Thomas, John Collins, Buddy Hield, Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jordan Clarkson.
Since retiring, Bryant has stayed involved in the NBA. Most notably, he spent last summer working with Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics. Although the results weren’t too evident for Tatum last season, it’s good to see Kobe is passing on his wisdom.
Kobe Bryant, I'm told, held an invite-only camp for a few days in mid-August at his new facility in Thousand Oaks and had Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Kyrie Irving and many other NBA luminaries in attendance .. including De'Aaron Fox after he parted company with @usabasketball https://t.co/NqA3mf9qH6
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 26, 2019
Both Clippers’ players are already elite scorers (George finished second in points per game last season) but any tip they can get from Bryant will just boost their game. The group of players is a weird amalgamation of players with no real specific type of player.
George (who is still recovering from surgery on both shoulders) probably didn’t get a ton of on-court work. Luckily, Stein says that there was also video work and strength training involved. Phil Handy, a Lakers’ strength coach, also helped work the camp.
With a championship mindset heading into this season for the Clippers, maybe a little time with one of the most winning-driven players in NBA history will help PG and Kawhi. We already know that Kawhi understands what it takes to lead a team to an NBA Finals victory, but Kobe can still impart his wisdom.
Since this camp was a pretty closely guarded secret, we aren’t privy to exactly what was worked on. With the LA Clippers hosting Media Day on Sunday, perhaps Kawhi and Paul will offer us some insight into what they were able to accomplish with Kobe.
Don’t forget to check back here for not only Media Day coverage, but all of your LA Clippers’ coverage as we get ready for the 2019-20 NBA season to finally get underway!