Kawhi Leonard Chose The Clippers To ‘Build Our Own And Make History’


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Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were introduced as members of the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday during a press conference in L.A., making official the biggest and most surprising development of a crazy offseason in the NBA.

The two spoke on their summer and how they ended up with the Clippers, with Paul George talking about how he grew up a Clippers fan (even with Kobe as his favorite player) and how it was a mutual split in OKC. Leonard thanked the Raptors fans and organization for a great year in Toronto, but made it evident that coming home and getting a chance to do something special in L.A. was the draw for him.

As for why he picked the Clippers over the Lakers, he made note of how the Clippers didn’t let anything get out — giving a bit of confirmation to the idea that leaks from the Lakers and Magic Johnson maybe played a role in him spurning LeBron and AD. However, the most telling portion of his answer about choosing the Clippers was when he noted it was a chance for he and Paul George to build something that was their own and make history for a team that’s never been to a Finals.

“They want to win, want to win again,” Leonard said. “It’s an opportunity for us to build our own and make history. They haven’t been to a Finals, haven’t won a Finals, so that was something big and exciting for me to make my decision.”

It’s an interesting selling point the Clippers had over the Lakers in this instance. Much has been made of how the Lakers can sell their championship pedigree and storied history, but for Leonard, he seems to relish the opportunity to become the first to do something rather than the latest. With the Lakers, you could join a storied tradition of excellence but with the Clippers you could be the first to start that, and that seems to have played a significant role in Kawhi’s thinking.

In Toronto, he’s forever a legend for bringing the Raptors a title and he and George can be the guys in Clippers franchise history if they do the same, rather than one of the guys with the Lakers. Leonard also noted that the Clippers have been better than the Lakers, then joked that he’s perfectly OK if the Lakers get more of the spotlight and media attention, as the Clippers will happily plod along and try to win a title as quietly as they can.

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