Much has been made of the brewing rivalry between the LA Clippers and Paul George ever since his departure from Los Angeles in the offseason. As he tends to do, George gave some unfiltered thoughts concerning his free agency decision on his podcast shortly after signing with the Philadelphia 76ers.
What ensued was a frenetic reaction from the Clippers' fanbase that signaled a full-fledged rivalry with their team's former player. Fans did not appreciate PG's comments about the Clippers feeling like "the B-team" in Los Angeles, and they let him hear it when he returned to LA to play at Intuit Dome in the first week of November.
During that game, fans on The Wall held up signs that said "PG, think before you speak." George took full notice of the fanbase's message to him, and he responded on the following episode of his podcast. "They proved me right," he said. "They didn't pack out and they aren't packing out Intuit Dome. Like, that's y'all's home, that's y'all's team. Go f------ support them. Go be there every night."
George's message, once again, did not go unnoticed by Clipper nation. And after the Clippers' win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, even Norman Powell had some words for his former teammate.
@npowell2404 said: “No matter what PG says, that @ClippersWall has been amazing!” 🤩🙌🎉 @LAClippers #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/WNpWYzpzGf
— I’m here live; I’m NOT a cat 😸✨ (@pinklunatik) November 21, 2024
Powell hyped up Clippers fans by rebuking Paul George
Participating in a postgame "meet the player" event, Powell gave Clipper nation some reassuring words. "I want to thank everyone for being here," he said. "And no matter what PG says, that Wall has been amazing." The crowd in attendance immediately went up in into a predictable roar of applause.
Showing some appreciation for the fanbase certainly fired up those in attendance, and further strengthened the bond between Clippers fans and their current leading scorer. It is also worth noting that Norman seems to be fine with leaning into the rivalry between he and Paul George specifically.
This comes after Powell now famously said at media day that he viewed George's departure as "addition by subtraction," voicing that he believed there were other players on the roster ready to step up with more minutes available. So far, his assessment has been 100% correct.
Fans have been ready to pit these two against each other since that moment, and Powell is very clearly fine with embracing that rivalry. This fun back-and-forth will be something else to continue monitoring as LA's season goes on.