“Championship, championship, baby!!! LBJ and the Brow in town!! Man, if they get Kawhi, it’s gonna be over!!” These were just a small portion of the quotes I heard from Lakers fans after the completion of the horrendously lopsided trade reminiscent of the 1999 Saints fiasco to acquire Ricky Williams (Genius work Mike Ditka) which sent Anthony Davis to the city of Angels. Then came free agency. At this point, the dysfunctional Lakers became all but completely assured they would be landing current Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. I’m certain LeBron had dreams of having recreated an even stronger Big Three than what he had in Miami with D Wade and Chris Bosh.
Wait a minute…stop the presses…a long awaited alert is coming in. Smart phones are waking die hard sports fans up in the middle of the night. Groupme chats are starting back up despite folks having to be at work in the morning. Highly coveted free agent Kawhi Leonard will NOT be going to the Lakers but will still be heading to Los Angeles to rock a Clippers uniform. But wait, the story doesn’t stop there. In supreme silent assassin fashion as only Leonard can effectively accomplish, he successfully recruited Paul George a.k.a. PG-13 from OKC! Who in the hell saw that coming!!?
So let’s review what many folks expected versus what we actually have here. Leonard’s departure served as no surprise given his star status and only one year remaining on his contract upon joining Toronto. Given his Southern Cali roots, the allure of L.A. and alleged resurgence of the struggling L.A. Fakers, it was almost a forgone conclusion or maybe a strong desire that Leonard would rock the purple and gold and bring arguably the most historically prestigious NBA franchise back to its long past glory days. That was the expectation. What we got instead was much better. We got COMPETITION!
Instead of another LBJ-led trifecta, we got a dynamic duo to match what had been created by the Lakers. Two Southern Cali fellas drafted a year apart versus two stars teamed up in the midst of a trade demand. A significant balance of basketball power in Los Angeles. Another possible title contender. Most importantly, a potential end to the horrendous “Super team era” (Thank goodness!). Perhaps the most intriguing part about Leonard’s decision to join the Clippers is his recognition as someone on par or even potentially better than LBJ. Calm down Bron hive…hear me out before you take that ocean deep dive into that place known as your feelings.
Here are some facts and stats. LBJ has three rings, and Leonard has two. LBJ has three finals MVP’s and Leonard has two. Leonard has won with BOTH teams he has either been drafted or traded to. Leonard never had to abandon his ALPHA male status and team up with a former finals MVP (D Wade, Miami Heat, 2006) who was drafted in the same class as him. Also, if not for Jesus Shuttlesworth a.k.a. Ray Allen coming to LBJ’s rescue in 2013, Leonard would be the one with three rings and Bron with two (making his finals record 2-7 as opposed to the unimpressive current 3-6). That would also make not one, but two of those losses against a Leonard led team (2014 Spurs championship against Miami).
So, not only do we know this, but Leonard knows this as well. With this knowledge, why would he agree to go potentially be a third option in deferring to one guy who he’s definitely better than and another with whom he is at least on par with? The same way it makes no sense when you review the numbers and say it out loud, I’m sure it made no sense to Leonard and his camp. Given the scenario we have, perhaps fellas will begin to follow suit the same way they did during the Super Team era. Maybe, and this is indeed a stretch, but just maybe we will see a slight resurgence of what we saw in the 80s and 90s NBA. Tons of Alpha Males REFUSING to join forces but willing to battle it out to the very end for the King of the Hill, and may the best man win. Just maybe we will get that nostalgic feeling back.
