After entering the season with lofty ambitions, it’s safe to say that things didn’t turn out as planned for the Los Angeles Clippers after their second-round playoff exit to the Denver Nuggets. (The fact that they blew a 3-1 lead in that series definitely didn’t help things, either.)
Following Game 7, Paul George tried to lift his teammates up with a locker room speech about remaining committed for next season and coming back stronger to make a playoff run. However, it was met with “eye rolls and bewilderment” from some players, per Shams Charania.
It sounds like after frequent struggles and conflicts with teammates throughout this year’s playoffs, George didn’t command the respect of his teammates while giving a speech of that nature.
“Multiple teammates had verbal spats with George throughout the postseason, citing in their exchanges a lack of accountability from him,” reports Charania, “ ... George did not back up his words with action in the series and the team has multiple free agents with decisions to make.”
The report adds that George and Kawhi Leonard remain committed to their partnership going forward, so while there seems to be some friction in the Clippers locker room, the relationship between their star players remains intact.
According to a previous report by Chris Haynes, it sounds like one of the players that George butted heads with was Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell... who is about to enter free agency.
h/t The Athletic
