Recently, the well-known American sports website "The Athletic" published a long article detailing the internal unrest of the Clippers last season.
The following is the compilation of the first half of this article:
Last season, before each Clippers game, team staff will follow the requirements of Kawhi Leonard to create a private space for his routine warm-up training.
According to multiple team and league sources, staff will move in and take over this private space for approximately 20 to 45 minutes. In away games, they will temporarily occupy the locker room for female employees. In the days when the Staples Center has two games a day, when the Los Angeles Kings (hockey team) locker room is unavailable, Kaka will also warm up alone under similar arrangements.
The Clippers players, coaches and staff know this arrangement well, and some people are not very comfortable. This may not have the intention of gender discrimination, but it is clear that female employees (due to Xiaoka’s warm-up) cannot use the locker room, cannot use the bathroom, cannot change clothes or take personal belongings. Xiaoka is doing stretching there. No one can ignore it. Some players and close friends mentioned the matter, and some employees complained about it to his colleagues. Even if such an arrangement is embarrassing, similar complaints should not attract too much attention, because, within the team, this will be considered a confrontation with Leonard, the undoubted superstar in the team.
"What can they do? After all, he is a small card." A league source said. However, the Clippers denied this kind of rumors. They stated that they did not drive away the people in the locker room in order to make room for Xiaoka and his trainer. They also said that the stretching training of the small card was written into the pre-match plan early, especially in the away game, the (so-called occupied) workplace is also limited when it is used, and it itself carries multiple functions . Z1z
Clippers’ special treatment of pickled peppers and small cards and small cards’ privacy requirements have indeed caused some trouble. This impact became apparent after the resumption of work. In Orlando’s isolation bubble, although there is no such thing as occupying the locker room. But in the Western Conference semifinals, the hidden dangers of the Clippers’ chemical reaction were highlighted, leading the team to a surprising 3-1 lead out of the game. In the 5th, 6th, and 7th games, the Clippers played in the first half. At the time, they were ahead of the opponent, but in the end they were all reversed by the Nuggets.
No matter on or off the court, the players did not establish the necessary chemical reaction to win the championship in the first year of teaming. The team lacked continuity and everyone did not trust each other. The team’s manager once imagined that a core framework composed of a bunch of high-quality role players superimposed on superstars would be enough to win the championship, but the negative effects within the team can range from playing time, special treatments, and personality differences. , The executives obviously misjudged. A team source at
thought, "How can you build a strong team in such a bad situation?... I thought from the beginning, "We are destined to be finished. The special that Xiaoka wants The treatment is too much.'"
NBA players all understand that the league is driven by stars, and this (privileged) event will not start or end with Kaka and George. Every All-Star player will get some form of preferential treatment, and the Clippers are no exception, especially considering that their star contract status is undetermined-considering that both players can become free agents in 2021.
However, multiple sources revealed that the preferential treatment given by the Clippers to Kajiao has weakened the team culture established by the team during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, and this culture is precisely what attracted Kajiao to Los Angeles. , The reason for joining the Clippers.
In addition to the above-mentioned story about Xiaoka's privacy, the Clippers' preferential treatment for Kajiao also includes:
•Only Xiaoka and George are equipped with their own personal bodyguards and coaches. The power of
•Kajiao is above the team's training and travel plans. Some teammates thought that Xiaoka cancelled many trainings.
Leonard was allowed to live in San Diego and commute from there, which made him often late to catch a flight on the team.
•Xiaoka and George usually receive media interviews at least 45 minutes after the end of the game. The reasons for delays given are often additional training and treatment. This often causes other teammates to be forced to talk to the media first, and the time for interviews and the time for facing the public will be lengthened.
•The teammates also think that Xiaoka and George will play selectively. They will not only chooseSome games are closed, and in other games, some playing time is requested or rejected.
Although star privileges are part of the locker room culture, although some training is not necessary for the Clippers, but for a team, if things go on like this, the degree of commitment will definitely become a problem. In 2017-2019, the tough and capable team culture established by the Clippers, the temperament of "all for me, for all", collapsed within a few months (last season). And now, a challenging new season is coming, the training camp will start this week, and the official games will start three days before Christmas...
time will return to this year’s playoffs again and be excavated in the semifinals. After King was eliminated, the much-anticipated Lakers Clippers West Finals battle also came to nothing. After the game, the conscience of the industry in the eyes of the media, Louis Williams, gave his own insights about the Clippers’ exit, “We have encountered many problems, but (every time) we are relying on talent to get rid of trouble...Chemical reaction, does not exist Yes. In this series, it made us losers." After the tiebreaker at
, Lu Wei emphasized the term "chemical reaction" three times. The then coach Doug Rivers mentioned the word "trust" three times. George also mentioned "chemical reactions," and he added that the Clippers have been dealing with "adversity" and that "(the team) doesn't have much time to adjust simultaneously." The signals sent by the
team all pointed to the same problem-the Clippers (players) were hardly on a channel in the 2019-20 season. Even after being eliminated, the Clippers have different views on the end of the season. George unexpectedly played down the ambitions of the team. George said, "We have always thought that this year is not for us to choose between winning and losing." Although, he and Cardinals do have to stay in the Clippers. Last (at least) two years. But this argument still drew opposition from teammates.
Lu Wei believes (this is also the opinion of most Clippers insiders) that last season either won the championship or failed. "We do have expectations to win the championship, and we also have this talent, but I don't think we have The chemistry that made it happen, the result (failed in the season) also proved it."
It can be said that after the elimination game, the comments of the Clippers players are the epitome of the internal division of the team, which continued throughout the season. . Coach Rivers’ coaching has accelerated the arrival of the Clippers’ disastrous ending. Due to the lack of recruits in the playoffs, and due to the divergence of many (coaching) philosophies and the team’s future direction, after the season, Rivers and the Clippers Parting ways...
Next, two weeks of new coach selection, the Clippers chose Rivers' assistant Tyronn Lulai to lead the coach on October 20. The team that Lu guides in will be the most interesting but also the most stressed team in the league. This lineup is led by Xiaokajiaojiao and has the power to fight for the championship immediately. But there are also many challenges that linger on the team-including improving the sense of responsibility in the locker room-these issues need to be resolved one by one before the next playoff trip...
Lu and his coaching team will soon face, and His challenge in the first season of Cleveland was the same, that was to let his superstars take responsibility, and let these players with different personalities set their minds... But can he really successfully overcome all the obstacles? *To be continued* (Poirot)
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