The story of Norman Powell has been arguably the biggest highlight of the 2024-25 season for the LA Clippers thus far. Coming into the year, Powell was expected to be one of many guys with an opportunity to step into a bigger role, but no one truly could have envisioned what he is currently doing.
Through 24 games played, Powell has been the Clippers' leading scorer at 23.9 points per game, and he has been one of the main reasons they are still firmly in contention for a playoff spot even with Kawhi Leonard having missed every game of the season to this point. He is averaging 10.0 points more than last season, and this comes after he finished top-five in Sixth Man of the Year voting for the last two years in a row.
At the Clippers' media day on the final day of September, Norman made a statement that seemed rather bold and audacious to many. Noting the offseason loss of Paul George, Powell stated that he thought George leaving would be "addition by subtraction," citing LA's other talented players down their bench.
As much as he was ridiculed by many for those words, Powell has 100% backed up his statement with his play this season. Now, in a new interview with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Norm has revealed a shocking detail about his career that even Clipper nation likely does not know. According to Powell, he nearly gave up on basketball on multiple occasions.
Norman Powell almost quit basketball
"I thought about quitting basketball a few times," he said. "I don’t think people really get to hear the dark moments that you go through. People don’t really get to see that side of things. They hear about the work, your accolades, and your successes, but behind the scenes, the struggles and things that you go through on a daily basis, like dealing with depression and having doubts."
This is something that feels extremely under-represented in sports coverage. It is of course much more appealing to only tell the glamorous side of someone's story to success, but it is important for people to know that someone's journey was full of struggle and difficult moments as well. Because in reality, life is not easy, and it should not be painted like it is. Talking about the downs as well as the ups will make superstar athletes feel more relatable to the average Joe.
"You have goals in mind you want to accomplish, and when things don’t go your way multiple times, you feel like the world is against you and it might not be cut out for you," said Powell. "That’s something that a lot of people don’t know. I thought about stopping this and changing my profession."
Now that feels like a statement that a lot of us can identify with. Feeling overwhelmed or defeated in a profession or any important area of life is a nearly universal human experience, and Norman Powell is clearly no exception. But the fact that he rose above those trying circumstances and worked to better himself and his life situation is a testament to the power of a strong work ethic and a resilient spirit. Clippers fans should be even more proud now to call Powell their team's leading scorer.