INGLEWOOD, Calif. — If you’ve seen one NBA media day, you know the drill. It’s orientation day. It’s the first day of school. It’s picture day.
You show up, get your new threads on, and look alive. After all, how you look and feel and, this one’s important, vibe with the station to station loitering that makes up the content schedule is going to be what the fans see all season long. You have to look hype, because there are digital content creators who need you to hype the fans up for that “Make some noise!” video that will play when you’re down a dozen points entering the fourth quarter.
Now, you could be Chris Paul. That man has seen 20 media days in seven cities, so he has a different take on all of the above.
“If you’re at media day, then two things,” said Paul, who is back with the LA Clippers for the first time in nine seasons. “That means you’re still in the NBA, which is a privilege. And then what it also means is that training camp starts the next day, right. And that’s one of the most exciting times of the year, every single year, because every team goes into training camp thinking that they’re going to win the championship, or at least have a chance at it.
“So it’s a really fun time of the year.”
Of course, there are the NBA media days you get used to, and then there are Clippers media days.
There’s always something, especially since star forward Kawhi Leonard joined the franchise in 2019. This year was going to add to the thread, as Leonard has been the subject of allegations that the Clippers were using the now-bankrupt Aspiration to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap. If your main objective on media day was to experience Leonard “breaking his silence” on the aspersions cast upon the Clippers, well, it was a long day.
Leonard didn’t get seated to address the press until 1 p.m. local time, more than two hours after Clippers basketball president Lawrence Frank wrapped up a session with the media that lasted almost 25 minutes and included a prepared statement that both deferred questions about the league’s investigation into the Clippers as well as express confidence in what the league’s investigation will show.
In years past, the Clippers have made around eight players available, with Leonard being one of the first to the podium. That would have been the plan this year as well, ideally, especially since the Clippers have touted that they have 11 rotation-worthy players who have all played at least eight NBA seasons.
But Leonard preferred to address the media in the latter part of the day’s schedule, and the only players who went before him were Paul, James Harden, Bradley Beal, and John Collins. When Leonard was finally ready to get to the podium, he took a quick stop to get into his light blue sweat suit, a signal that his visit to the media was his final stop of the day. He strolled to the table on the elevated platform and sat down calmly.
“I’m ready,” Leonard said.
And Leonard certainly was ready. He expressed how “easy” it was for him to disregard outside noise. He used the word “conspiracies” twice to describe reporting. Leonard even suggested that this was all old news, and that he knew what the fallout of Aspiration’s bankruptcy would mean for him a long time ago. Ultimately, Leonard compared this potential “distraction” to the January wildfires that disrupted his return to action last season.
“As soon as I came back, that first game, my house and my community caught on fire,” Leonard said Monday. “So I don’t think it’s going to be harder than that.”
No other Clippers addressed the media after Leonard said that. Leonard was relieved from the podium, and went about the rest of his afternoon. The tone that the organization took on the Aspiration scandal was reaffirmed by Leonard himself: that his name being besmirched in new ways just as the season was about to get underway would not deter Leonard or his team from focusing on the evergreen goal of making a run at a title.
“We’re just going to keep going as any other season,” Leonard said. “My name might pop up, but it is what it is.”
That brings it back to objectives on media day and how this is a very “seasoned” team, to borrow a quote from Frank. At some point, the league will complete the investigation, it will get to the system arbitrator, then the commissioner will have to decide on punishment that includes one of the 30 NBA owners and one of the league’s active future Hall of Fame players. That day could deal a critical blow to the Clippers, both in the present and future tense.
That day was never going to be media day. And that day is not anything that the Clippers’ other players can control. So while many people focus on the new developments in the Aspiration scandal, that doesn’t mean that the Clippers’ veteran players were walking around Intuit Dome Monday morning as if a new episode of “Pablo Torre Finds Out” was playing on the Halo Board.
If you have been on the Clippers roster the last couple of seasons, you are conditioned in the art of keeping the main the main thing. Harden is a player who described himself Monday as having had “16 sour tastes” in his mouth, a reference to making the playoffs every season of his career and falling short of a championship each time. But despite the acknowledgement that only a “handful” of teams can actually win a championship on a yearly basis, Harden believes that his team can do it, and that gives him the kind of energy that belies whatever is going on with the organization and Leonard’s endorsement deals.
“I don’t think there’s a sour taste,” Harden said Monday. “Like, we got half of a new roster. I mean, really, feeling like we’re rejuvenated with the guys that we got.”
Sure, the Clippers have concerns. New addition Bradley Beal had his right knee scoped after last season, his last with the Phoenix Suns. He and Bogdan Bogdanović (proximal hamstring tendon tear) will be limited to begin training camp. But the team is otherwise healthy, including Leonard, who is, annually, not healthy at this time of the year. Bogdanović told me that he was scared when he was injured, but it appears that he avoided the worst case scenario. And Beal made it clear that his priority is not to score, but to be the best teammate that he can be.
“It’s not going to be what everybody expects it to be,” Beal says of his role on the Clippers this season. “That’s honestly not what I really care about. It’s about what’s beneficial for the team, and whatever job they need me to go do, I’m going to go out there and execute it.”
And then there were players like Collins, who just spent two seasons on a Utah Jazz team that won fewer games combined in those seasons (48) than the Clippers did last season (50). Collins, one of four new veteran Clippers additions, sounded thrilled just to be in a winning atmosphere. Should he be concerned about Leonard’s chronic lack of availability? That was not something for Collins to discuss. He’s excited just to be Leonard’s teammate.
“It’s great to have him on my side,” Collins said of Leonard. “Obviously, we all know Kawhi — not too long-winded conversations — but, you know what I mean, when we’re talking about what we really want to do is win. And we don’t really need to talk too much about that, you know what I’m saying?
“I know what I want to do, and I want to respect his time, his greatness, and what he brings on the court with my 100 percent effort.”
Chris Paul sits for a photo at Clippers media day on Monday. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)
Perhaps the best perspective of vibes on Clippers media day can be described by Paul. This is a player who has seen a lot of outrageous and extraordinary events. Hurricane Katrina hit right before his rookie season in New Orleans. “Basketball reasons” canceled a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers. He was part of the Clippers crew that sent emojis to flip DeAndre Jordan’s free agency decision a decade ago. He’s been on four teams that changed owners, including two that were prefaced by league investigations facilitated by the same law firm tasked with investigating the Clippers now.
“What’s crazy is a lot of it, I somewhat forget or don’t think about ’til somebody mentions it, to tell you the truth,” Paul said. “That’s because I got a lot of stuff going on, you know what I mean? As far as family, kids, wife, all that stuff going on. But definitely seen a lot and experienced a lot. So, yeah, it’s been interesting.”
It’s going to get interesting with Leonard’s status and the Clippers’ standing this year. Leonard certainly waited to speak on media day for the first time since 2021. But overall, it was just another Clippers media day. And watching Leonard’s teammates was a reminder that there is more to discuss than what’s going on with Leonard, if anyone cares to.
“I’m excited about getting to work,” Paul said Monday. “That’s why I said, with media day today, that means we start tomorrow.”
(Photo of Kawhi Leonard: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)