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The NBA regular season is almost here and it’s going to start with a bang. The Los Angeles Lakers will be playing the Clippers on opening night. While it’s hard to say that there’s much of a rivalry between the two teams, it’s clear that they don’t like each other very much.
It probably wasn’t the Lakers’ idea to play the Clippers on the night of their ring ceremony celebrating their recent championship win, but it probably will feel pretty good. Many people picked the Clippers to win the championship and they failed in spectacular fashion. Paul George recently commented on the ring ceremony.
“December 22 won’t be the test of finding who we are, where we’re at … It’ll be a great ceremony for them … but [it’s] the start of the marathon…we had enough motivation if we [play] someone else or the Lakers,” George said, via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
There hasn’t been a lot of trash talk coming from the Clippers this season. Last year, they were the most confident team around. It’s hard to keep talking a big game when you don’t even make it to the Conference Finals.
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Anthony Davis Speaks on Almost Joining George in Indiana
George recently made some headlines when he revealed that he almost teamed up with Anthony Davis when he was playing with the Indiana Pacers. Apparently, Davis was open to the idea, according to George. The Lakers star has given his side of the story.
“The Paul thing in Indiana, it was a conversation for sure,” Davis said. “It kind of just faded away. I’m not sure what happened on their end. He said that management didn’t want to do it whatever, but it was a conversation, and then LeBron [James] saying he wants to team up, then the year that we do we win a championship.”
Anthony Davis on Paul George saying they talked about teaming up on the Pacers: “Paul thing and Indiana was a conversation for sure. It kind of just faded away. I’m not sure what happened on their end. He said that management didn’t want to do it whatever…”
Things obviously worked out better for Davis in the end. He got to come to Los Angeles and win a championship in his first year. He’s now a made man for life because winning a championship with the Lakers is a very big deal. George hasn’t had as much success as Davis. He had trouble finding a permanent home until the Clippers gave him a max deal.
Lakers vs. Clippers Will Be Telling Matchup
The Lakers handled the Clippers in their first two preseason games but those don’t mean much. Davis and LeBron James didn’t even play. The real test will be on Tuesday when the two teams play on opening night. Based on how the offseason went, the Lakers should make easy work of the Clippers.
They have a deeper roster and have a better superstar duo. However, people are probably underestimating the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard is still a top-five player and George was an MVP candidate just two seasons ago. With Ty Lue taking over as the team’s head coach, they could look quite different this year. If they can upset the Lakers on opening night, things could get interesting.
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Paul George Has Strong Response to Having to Attend Lakers’ Ring Ceremony