Kawhi Leonard turned down an offer to play with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. He made a man's choice to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. Now Leonard is leading the Clippers to haunt James and the Lakers- - (NBA - photo)

LeBron James - (NBA - photo)   Anthony Davis - (NBA - photo)   Jeannie Buss - (Screen shot - photo)

SPORTS NOTES - KAWHI LEONARD BLASTS OFF AGAINST LeBRON JAMES & ANTHONY DAVIS LED LAKERS

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

Housekeeping was in order prompting the exodus of roughly half of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers squads. Now there are four super stars in town battling to win the war of Los Angels and strive to win the NBA title. When fans digest the new faces of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Anthony Davis to compliment LeBron James, they have a lot of talent on their plates to choose from. With their presence the questions are who can achieve becoming the top team in LA and can one win the NBA title?

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

THE BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES

When LeBron James decided to sign with the Lakers it was felt by many that he would be the potion to cure the Jeannie Buss led Lakers losing ills. The result was NO

. James then sought help and recruited Anthony Davis for assistance. It was a case of tampering via friendship and being a guest on James' TV show thus giving Davis a feel for the Hollyweird atmosphere.

Davis bought in and the NBA had a hands off response to a tampering investigation that seems to be reserved for coaches and executives only. What did occur is the NBA started to reexamine what constitutes tampering. As they expressed that one can't interfere in friendships.

Kawhi Leonard was the next piece of the James created puzzle to fit into the top 3 star players that is known to be required to in winning NBA titles. The reserved and low key Leonard politely declined the overture and signed with the lowly regarded cross town rival Clippers. There was one condition that Leonard demanded…. The Clippers had to sign fellow Californian Paul George.

The also low key George accepted the offer and the Clippers immediately achieved respectability status that shocked the NBA world. Some touted the team to win the NBA title. WHAT!!!! ARE THEY JOKING?

The proof of the pudding of how valuable Leonard is to a franchise came to fruition last night when the two teams met each other in their season opening games. Leonard alone proved to be too strong for the James, Davis, not so dynamic, duo as he led the Clippers to a 112-102 win.

The current NBA finals MVP maintained the form he had last season in leading the Toronto Raptors to their first NBA title. Leonard poured in 30 points along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists in 32 minutes of play. The remainder of the Clippers starting five only scored 22 points.

The irony is that George is on the injured list recovering from two shoulder operations. It raises the question if The Clippers have improved that much with only Leonard on the floor what can happen when the two are healthy and playing together?

As usual the NBA SIXTH MAN AWARD winner Lou Williams provided scoring help off the bench pouring in 21 points as well as a Leonard like 7 assists and 5 rebounds. He is one of the six players returning from the squad that started last season.

One of the most asked questions is why did Leonard choose the Clippers over the highly touted Lakers whose reputation relies on the winning history not the past six seasons of losing results under its leader Jeannie Buss.

Buss traveled 60 miles away from the Lakers practice facility to meet and woo Leonard. It was not revealed what was discussed but if her past negotiating techniques with Carmelo Anthony and Lionel Aldrich matters she was selling the Hollyweird celebrities that follow the Lakers thus being in with the in crowd of the city of Angels.

The other selling point is the well qualified Lakers winning history. The problem is when you dance around their failure to win titles in the 60's against the Boston Celtics which is a glaring blemish such as seeing Celtics ghosts… it holds up.

That sell job didn't work for Aldrich and Anthony as they chose to move on although Anthony is the type of individual that likes to be noticed and Aldrich not so much… therefore the Hollyweird pitch doesn't' work for those that just want to focus on PLAYING BASKETBALL.

Leonard comes off as being more country than city. That San Antonio Spurs experience had to have some of that country rub off on him. He's not the type of guy that wants to be in the limelight. By his past all he wants to do is be a blue collar guy that puts on his hard hat and goes to work. He comes from the an Gabriel Valley in California over 60 miles from L.A.

George is very similar thus he also apparently shuns the Hollyweird limelight. He come from Palmdale with is 90 miles away from Hollyweird. The other not talked about factor was expressed by Kevin Durant last season. He questioned why would a star players want to play with a superstar like James. The rationale was the game goes through James and it would diminish the new player's talents being another super star having to fit into James style of play.

History bears out that any team James is on is his team and they play through him. The reality is that he is so talented that that's how a team he plays for wins… most of the time.

History also reveals that when Kevin Love signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers to play with James his production went down hill trying to fit in with James' style of play. Love is not the productive player he was with being the star and focal point of the Minnesota Timberwolves from the start of his rookie year. Since that signing, Love has had well publicized stress and emotional problems.

The bottom line is James is one unquestionably one of the greatest players to play in the NBA. He leaves it all on the floor with his effort and productivity. The problem is that he has been wearing himself out after 16 years of playing an 82 game plus playoff game schedule SINCE HE GRADUATED from HIGH SCHOOL when he was 18-years-old. As of last night he has played in 1437 NBA games for 56230 minutes. If he's running out of gas, he's excused.

Due to injuries, he only played 55 of the 82 regular season games last season. Due to the teams poor 37-45 record he missed playing in the playoffs only for the second time in his career. That resulted in him not being a happy camper and changes had to be made prompting the arrival of Davis and a franchise overhaul.

Common sense dictates that one game does not make a season. Both teams have to be concerned and hopefully avoid injuries for success.

The Lakers have a talent heavy squad and with a healthy Demarcus Cousins returning at some point they have a title winning type roster and a BIG THREE.

The Clippers have a blue collar type of team that seems to thus far blend together. Leonard, George and Williams could be the BIG 3 of that squad.

The bottom line is… the secret sauce for success is CHEMISTRY and COACHING. With that said…. STAY TUNED…..

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