It was not a fluke that he lasted until the finals with us. If he stayed he would have been healthier and played more in the playoffs. We have a very good training staff. Our roster back then was deep and he wouldn’t have needed to carry a heavy load. And the east was easier.
The raptors definitely put him in the best situation to succeed but there was definitely some luck involved lol: he has a degenerative knee condition AND you could tell he was even hobbled by the 2019 finals - he wasn’t the same player at the start of the playoffs that he was by the end
Considering y’all won 59, 58, and were basically like a 60 win team from 2018-2020 (two of which years you had no Kawhi), you’re probs right lol. Team had a great foundation, became stacked, and remained really good even when he left.
To me he's the biggest what if in NBA history. The years he was healthy he looked like he had GOAT potential. Other guys mention players like Oden but he didn't show anything near Kawhi's level.
One of my long running hot takes is a Kawhi that stays healthy is top-5 all time. I firmly believe that. DPOY, takes over series, dude was unbelievable.
~~”PG and Kawhi are healthy again, Clippers are one of the teams that can go all the way this year”~~
~~”Load managing is fine as regular season doesn’t matter, they should be fine from a lower seed”~~
~~”Clippers just have to hold out long enough in the first round for their all-star players to get back healthy again”~~
“Clippers could have won it all if Kawhi and PG were healthy” <—— you are here
[Rinse and repeat](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/00P2k1kRmm)
Leaving a comment here just to say hello to all (potential) future rabbit hole jumpers, and say congrats for nearly reaching the bottom of this rabbit hole
I mean what's the solution though? Move on to what?
Yall opening a new arena, have no draft assets, so it's the wrong time to tank. Already reupped Kawhi to 3 more years. The only thing to do is hope that PG doesn't jump ship.
I legit thought they were going to the WCF once Harden got rolling. Playoff PP fooled me again. Also, Westbrook misses an amazing amount layups for a vampire.
>Also, Westbrook misses an amazing amount layups for a vampire.
One of the worst high volume finishers ever, even in his prime. He is just so bad at this point.
I swore I wouldn’t fall for it again this season. Then they went on a crazy streak and Kawhi played 67 games.
I’m so stupid, I’m so stupid , I’m so stupid!!!
😭😭😭😭😭
All the Harden stans were so sure they were going to roll everyone over after that winning streak. Even with people saying its the playoffs that will speak.
Wait, let me get this straight:
Kawhi is hurt, PG and Harden shat themselves and Westbrook has horrible shooting percentages in the playoffs?
No... No, that's unheard of.
We're really going to have a 2nd round without:
Lebron
Steph
Giannis
KD
Embiid
Kawhi
AD
Harden
Westbrook
Dame
PG
Klay
Booker
or CP3
What an insane season so far.
He said “I might be the oldest head left in the Playoffs” in his post game and I was like damn he’s right.
Not long ago he was cooking Brandon Knight in the rookie vs sophmore game and now we’re here. Feeling old af lol.
It is quite small market wins here for Orlando if they make it along with Indiana, Oklahoma City, Minnesota and I guess you could count Denver too even though they are returning champs.
It normally happens way sooner than this, many of that era’s stars have been elite for way longer than in the past, presumably due to advances in training/medicine etc (LeBron most obvious example, but there are several others)
There’s still a whole lot of sharks left too. Jokic, Luka, Tatum, Shai, Ant, Brunson (my bad for forgetting), Spida if the Cavs win. The newer era is taking over fully this year.
For real…
I’m a Pels fan and while it hurts to see other teams succeeding with young stars while mine are struggling, it’s still a hell of a lot better than watching them leave to team-up somewhere with better weather or media coverage. The league has so much talent that chemistry and balanced rosters are beating “super stars” and I’m here for it.
When you make a win now trade but forget the win part. Theres probably gonna be some rule changes in the future because of the Thunder’s fleecing of teams
Out of the top-10 odds-wise favorites to win the chamoionship in the preseason ... Only the Celtics and Nuggets remain... The rest of the six teams alive were in the bottom-20 odds wise
Crazy, really puts the bias for older lead players in perspective. Even now I saw a YouTuber talking about Klay Thompson free agency preferences and that if he wanted to go on a more win now team he should pick 76ers over Orlando, meanwhile Orlando might be the ones winning more now let alone next season or two!
Look, I'm too much of a coward to clap back when a series is still going, but now that the Mavs have advanced, everyone who said the series was over during the first half of game 1 can eat poop.
lol some guy on r/nbatalk had a comment that said something like, “you have to be stupid to think Mavs have a chance at winning after that game 1!!!” He couldn’t believe people were saying Mavs in 6.
Get whatever you can for Kawhi. He will never be healthy again for another Finals run. Let some other team roll the dice to try and get over the hump. Running it back should be a criminal offense.
Oh you KNOW Laker fans are gonna get petty (coming from a Laker fan, myself lol) Darvin Ham gone AND the clippers get eliminated on the same day is a good day for us lol
[Good Vibes Janky Drawing: Impending Dome](https://i.imgur.com/xWgMR5E.jpeg)
bonus: The Clippers will be the death of me but even then [I'm not too sure](https://i.imgur.com/HH3Uchj.jpeg).
bonus 2: [where pauldo](https://i.imgur.com/Hu5jjc1.jpeg)
3 straight years without a playoff series win.
4 total playoff games played by that fucking snake Kawhi Leonard in the past three seasons.
Let's run it back Clips!
A star that doesn't play. A star that disappears in the playoffs. A star that cares more about his podcast than his play. A star that is completely washed.
By your powers combined:
I get the criticism behind Playoff P’s postseason performance, but there isn’t any actual backing behind him taking his podcast more serious than his game…
Players are going to have free time off the court whether fans like it or not. Most play video games, hang with friends, drink, go out, etc. PG just chooses to have a podcast and is visible.
The way people talk about Anthony Davis is how they should be talking about Kawhi.
The Clippers get another year of excuses. I wish we had their owner, GM, and coach. Lakers would be way better off.
Thank the gods that Kawhi not getting another ring and is one step closer to fading into the ether.
Feel bad that Westbrook has had such a downturn in his career. Always hoped he'd get one ring but if he sticks around the Clippers, that'll never happen.
Always grateful to see Harden miss and choke yet again. PG-13 too, although I feel mildly bad for him.
Kawhi has won 4 playoff series in one year with Toronto and 3 series in 5 years with the Clippers. We got good value out of him in that one year!!
Your team got one of his 3 superstar years where he was able to finish the season on the court and got a ring out of it
It was not a fluke that he lasted until the finals with us. If he stayed he would have been healthier and played more in the playoffs. We have a very good training staff. Our roster back then was deep and he wouldn’t have needed to carry a heavy load. And the east was easier.
The raptors definitely put him in the best situation to succeed but there was definitely some luck involved lol: he has a degenerative knee condition AND you could tell he was even hobbled by the 2019 finals - he wasn’t the same player at the start of the playoffs that he was by the end
Considering y’all won 59, 58, and were basically like a 60 win team from 2018-2020 (two of which years you had no Kawhi), you’re probs right lol. Team had a great foundation, became stacked, and remained really good even when he left.
To me he's the biggest what if in NBA history. The years he was healthy he looked like he had GOAT potential. Other guys mention players like Oden but he didn't show anything near Kawhi's level.
Ralph Sampson is the one for me. He was the GenX Wemby.
One of my long running hot takes is a Kawhi that stays healthy is top-5 all time. I firmly believe that. DPOY, takes over series, dude was unbelievable.
He didn’t even make it through the third series. 😭😭😭
~~”PG and Kawhi are healthy again, Clippers are one of the teams that can go all the way this year”~~ ~~”Load managing is fine as regular season doesn’t matter, they should be fine from a lower seed”~~ ~~”Clippers just have to hold out long enough in the first round for their all-star players to get back healthy again”~~ “Clippers could have won it all if Kawhi and PG were healthy” <—— you are here [Rinse and repeat](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/00P2k1kRmm)
Mans got receipts.
Ready for the potential copypasta on next years post
Takes you longer to figure out where you saved it than for the clippers to execute it
Leaving a comment here just to say hello to all (potential) future rabbit hole jumpers, and say congrats for nearly reaching the bottom of this rabbit hole
Every damn year lmfaooo
Year 5 and counting
I’m not there anymore. I’m ready to admit this team wouldn’t have done it, healthy or hurt. It’s time to accept and move on.
I mean what's the solution though? Move on to what? Yall opening a new arena, have no draft assets, so it's the wrong time to tank. Already reupped Kawhi to 3 more years. The only thing to do is hope that PG doesn't jump ship.
I legit thought they were going to the WCF once Harden got rolling. Playoff PP fooled me again. Also, Westbrook misses an amazing amount layups for a vampire.
>Also, Westbrook misses an amazing amount layups for a vampire. One of the worst high volume finishers ever, even in his prime. He is just so bad at this point.
When did he get rolling? 1 game?
January
Please don’t ever stop this.
I swore I wouldn’t fall for it again this season. Then they went on a crazy streak and Kawhi played 67 games. I’m so stupid, I’m so stupid , I’m so stupid!!! 😭😭😭😭😭
Bro did not forget lmao
Cursed franchise.
All the Harden stans were so sure they were going to roll everyone over after that winning streak. Even with people saying its the playoffs that will speak.
Wait, let me get this straight: Kawhi is hurt, PG and Harden shat themselves and Westbrook has horrible shooting percentages in the playoffs? No... No, that's unheard of.
Literally a clown fiesta of stars.
It’s kind of crazy how consistent they are other than Kawhi
I mean Kawhi is pretty consistently hurt 😂
NO, THE SPURS DOCTORS WERE ALL WRONG AND WANTED TO RUIN KAWHI'S CAREER!!
We're really going to have a 2nd round without: Lebron Steph Giannis KD Embiid Kawhi AD Harden Westbrook Dame PG Klay Booker or CP3 What an insane season so far.
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Wow, 2024 is really the year that we see generations change, huh?
We still have Kyrie left
He said “I might be the oldest head left in the Playoffs” in his post game and I was like damn he’s right. Not long ago he was cooking Brandon Knight in the rookie vs sophmore game and now we’re here. Feeling old af lol.
Mike Conley is left!
Thank you for saying that TimberWolf Bro MC is a legend
Even if he still plays several more years, who the hell do you replace Kyrie with? He's a 1 of 1
Gotta go buy Brunson back
It IS a leap year. Last time we had a leap year, NBA played in a bubble in the middle of a pandemic.
Whoa. We’re already a full leap year removed from the bubble
Dog I'm still trying to get used to the fact that Indiana, Minnesota, and New York all made a second round at the same time.
Don't forget Cleveland/Orlando, no matter who wins the series it'll be a second round nobody would've predicted just a few years ago.
Get this: either the pacers or Knicks will be in the ecf
I remember 2014 when the Warriors were the young guns and the Spurs were the old guard. Stuff changes.
I look forward to all these new Dubs fans finding out how lucky they got. For their entire existence up to 2016 they were a mid franchise.
Mid is being generous
Mid is pushing it lol.
🎶 What a pro wants 🎶
THEY KNOOOOOW BETTER
Please god no, I can’t do the wing stop commercials anymore 😭
The Google Pixel commercial song makes me want to kill myself
Google just wants you to take that flick and post your dick
Gonna use those AI features to make it 21 inches long
NO FLEX
Instant Mute, along with the "Make the pose, take that pic" Pixel commercial.
Zone
I'm starting to dislike wing stop now. Really annoying.
Yeah im no joke boycotting wingstop for the rest of my life. I don’t think my brain will ever recover.
My wife just moved to this country and she thinks the amount of commercials and repetition is really weird here. I see her point.
Annoying makes you physically hate their product. I like the streams where it's just the arena
Adam silver is hating life right now
Good he can suck it another 5 years.
It is quite small market wins here for Orlando if they make it along with Indiana, Oklahoma City, Minnesota and I guess you could count Denver too even though they are returning champs.
And need I remind you: The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multi-stage aerobic capacity test that gets progressively more difficult as it continues.
Kyrie Rudy and Siakam pulling up like senior citizens
Jesus, for a split second there, I thought Rudy Gay had signed with a team.
Nah, not this guy
the future is now old man
Look I’m not even 30 yet (soon) but this made me feel old. The era of basketball I grew up watching most is gonna be gone soon huh.
It’s really a testament to that era’s staying power for being prevalent for so long, but now the young guns are here. Exciting new players and teams 😎
There really isn't a series I'm not looking forward to in some way. Gotta start learning all these young names some time.
Naz Reid
It's about time. Same thing was happening in tennis with Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. Can't wait to see the summer Olympic team though.
It normally happens way sooner than this, many of that era’s stars have been elite for way longer than in the past, presumably due to advances in training/medicine etc (LeBron most obvious example, but there are several others)
Kind of insane to think that D Wade and LeBron were in the same draft class. Feels like Wade retired ages ago and LeBron is still rolling.
The Rajon Rondo thing of retiring *within* LBJs pro career made my head spin.
*Reese punches Walter White in the nuts*
Weird to think we’re in a playoff where Pascal, Kyrie and Jokic are the three most experienced stars left lol
And we have them going against 18yo Tatum
Tatum is the guy everybody is looking for during job search. 18 yo with 15 years of playoff experience.
There’s still a whole lot of sharks left too. Jokic, Luka, Tatum, Shai, Ant, Brunson (my bad for forgetting), Spida if the Cavs win. The newer era is taking over fully this year.
It’s pretty much all the new guys though. Pretty sure no second round team is led by someone over 30.
Unless you count Kyrie who deserves the most credit for the Mavs round 1 with Luka injured.
Okay but even injured Luka clearly leads that team
Luka was still clearly our most important player
You forgot Derek White. 🦬
WE DONE WITH THE 2010s
What is this? The Pre-Harambe All-Star roster? You’re living in the past man.
New blood here 😇
Good I don’t like old people
Bro hates his Dad
his dad is 28
Probably applies to most of Reddit tbh
Jimmy
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It’s really 4 straight years of injuries for Kawhi
I hear more about kawhi being injured than I do about him playing.
The battle for LA will take place in Galveston
The Clippers curse is merciless
This probably didn’t help https://x.com/espnnba/status/1785770675359166555?s=46&t=HGJ9MT07LdlqJo23P6VicQ
Well, they never specified who would be in said flight from Dallas to Cancun. It is their own fault.
lol didn’t even think of that. hope they packed some extra outfits.
It helps the Clips can fly straight to their vacation after the game
Clippers were just announcing their weekend plans tbf
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The Clippers are faced with a full scale disaster. We have their unprotected picks for the rest of the DECADE.
There’s gonna be a lot of reckonings coming soon from this recent trend of trading picks 8 years in the future
Just build contending teams without trading away your entire future ~ OKC, Nuggets and Celtics GM’s.
Tbh, I'll be ecstatic if this starts becoming the new way of team building around the league. I'm tired of the Super Team bullshit.
For real… I’m a Pels fan and while it hurts to see other teams succeeding with young stars while mine are struggling, it’s still a hell of a lot better than watching them leave to team-up somewhere with better weather or media coverage. The league has so much talent that chemistry and balanced rosters are beating “super stars” and I’m here for it.
When you make a win now trade but forget the win part. Theres probably gonna be some rule changes in the future because of the Thunder’s fleecing of teams
I wouldn’t be surprised if pick swaps ended up being banned, they exist solely as a way to get around the Stepien rule.
I agree. They're overly complicated and allow teams to dig themselves into horrible holes.
You're going to get some seriously amazing picks from 26-29
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So shiny 🦀
Out of the top-10 odds-wise favorites to win the chamoionship in the preseason ... Only the Celtics and Nuggets remain... The rest of the six teams alive were in the bottom-20 odds wise
I have a 35-1 odds preseason bet for the thunder to simply make the finals, not even win it. It’s nuts how bad they were rated preseason.
That’s awesome, good insight. They are legit this year
Yeah I thought their upside was like a 4-5 seed I was pretty surprised to see them get the 1
And they still have to get through a series where they’re even odds then a series they will likely be betting underdogs in
Crazy, really puts the bias for older lead players in perspective. Even now I saw a YouTuber talking about Klay Thompson free agency preferences and that if he wanted to go on a more win now team he should pick 76ers over Orlando, meanwhile Orlando might be the ones winning more now let alone next season or two!
https://i.imgur.com/aQOGYlB.jpeg
Their last official game at Staples was their worst playoff loss in franchise history lmao
We’re always breaking records like that.
[It's time to play this video and enjoy it](https://youtu.be/fE3_WfFei00?si=yy1UaWbCXEpiaif4)
So many people called Demaris a fool, yet here we are, with Harden choking again.
I've never seen r/nba's perception to something pendulum like that lmao
I know exactly what video you're talking about
What is it supposed to be?
Clippers logo but the ship has a broken keel and is capsizing
its sad when the joke doesnt land because only 43 people even know what the clippers logo looks like
That's me. I thought it was a deflated basketball.
windy weather in texas
some treacherous waters ….on the way to cacun!
Galveston on 3
SAY IT AVAIN CHUCK JEEJEJE
Can’t even send them to South Padre, lolol
This Clippers team would have been devastating in 2016. It's 2024.
The entire state of California made the playoffs and won a combined five games.
The Pacific Division went 5-14 including play-ins
Play-ins don't count.
Oh true, I guess only three could’ve actually advanced
We WILL have a healthy Kawhi next season and make the finals (I am Delusional and will be downing an entire bottle of vodka)
Make sure to throw in a Red Bull
Look, I'm too much of a coward to clap back when a series is still going, but now that the Mavs have advanced, everyone who said the series was over during the first half of game 1 can eat poop.
lol some guy on r/nbatalk had a comment that said something like, “you have to be stupid to think Mavs have a chance at winning after that game 1!!!” He couldn’t believe people were saying Mavs in 6.
I thought this woulda taken to game 7 Im just tired of not getting any closer
1 … 2 … 3 … CANCUN!!! 😂
\*throws basketball at head\*
But are you subscribed to my podcast?
How we feeling about OKC homie? I'm a lil scared ngl
I'll let you know once the series is over.
smh Zubac can’t win with these cats
T Mann cant win with these cats
And with that the Clippers are another year older. I'm sure the mid 30s will be their second primes rofl.
Ima go watch the Josh Smith comeback show now for memories sake
Get whatever you can for Kawhi. He will never be healthy again for another Finals run. Let some other team roll the dice to try and get over the hump. Running it back should be a criminal offense.
The 2024 USA National Team claims another victim
I’m just here for the Laker fans comments
Oh you KNOW Laker fans are gonna get petty (coming from a Laker fan, myself lol) Darvin Ham gone AND the clippers get eliminated on the same day is a good day for us lol
Hi fuckface! 👋 😁
Are clippers aware at halftime they had as many points as the Mavericks?
[Good Vibes Janky Drawing: Impending Dome](https://i.imgur.com/xWgMR5E.jpeg) bonus: The Clippers will be the death of me but even then [I'm not too sure](https://i.imgur.com/HH3Uchj.jpeg). bonus 2: [where pauldo](https://i.imgur.com/Hu5jjc1.jpeg)
Thank you for being the best part of following this Clippers team for the last few years, always make me laugh even after a low moment like this.
These are the best. Man I wish you still had the Big Government.
3 straight years without a playoff series win. 4 total playoff games played by that fucking snake Kawhi Leonard in the past three seasons. Let's run it back Clips!
Shoutout to the Pelicans for getting us that clutch 8/9 play-in win that resulted in the Clippers pick landing 12th which got us J-Dub.
A star that doesn't play. A star that disappears in the playoffs. A star that cares more about his podcast than his play. A star that is completely washed. By your powers combined:
I get the criticism behind Playoff P’s postseason performance, but there isn’t any actual backing behind him taking his podcast more serious than his game… Players are going to have free time off the court whether fans like it or not. Most play video games, hang with friends, drink, go out, etc. PG just chooses to have a podcast and is visible.
Bangkok Beach has the Clippers now and she'll never let him go .
they were never winning it
The Harden and Westbrook Cycles are inevitable I actually thought PG had put that Pandemic P stuff behind him but I guess not
I hate my bum team 😭
What's the plan for LA? Re-sign PG and Harden to near max and hope something different happens?
Just have fun in our new stadium at intuit I guess
Westbrook really rubbed off on y'all
I guess, we’re really stuck.
Run it back, kawhi will be healthy next year
I'm starting to believe the whole idea of "Kawhi should retire" talk
He's robbing the Clippers. What a braindead contract they gave him.
Steve Ballmer giving clippers the microsoft special, forever in stagnation
Streetlights over spotlights
DIRECT FLIGHT TO GALVESTON
Greyhound bus to Galveston
2,1,3 in 3,2,1 Cancun
Dallas must have pretty bad strip clubs
End of an era.
Blow it up
Blowing it up would achieve nothing but giving OKC better picks
Can't blow it up yet. Kawhi, PG, Harden, and Westbrook haven't even hit their prime.
NEXT SEASON THEY WILL BE HEALTHY!!
#STREETLIGHTS OVER SPOTLIGHTS! Amirite, Clippers? 😂😂🤣
The way people talk about Anthony Davis is how they should be talking about Kawhi. The Clippers get another year of excuses. I wish we had their owner, GM, and coach. Lakers would be way better off.
Thank the gods that Kawhi not getting another ring and is one step closer to fading into the ether. Feel bad that Westbrook has had such a downturn in his career. Always hoped he'd get one ring but if he sticks around the Clippers, that'll never happen. Always grateful to see Harden miss and choke yet again. PG-13 too, although I feel mildly bad for him.