LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers may have missed out on last year’s playoffs, but the Lakers reserve Jared Dudley, in a new book, revealed that his team was ready for the ” battle for Los Angeles “because of Paul George.
“We hear some of these guys talk about how they’re the team to beat in Los Angeles,” Dudley, along with co-author Carvell Wallace, wrote in his 42-page book: “Inside the NBA Bubble: A Championship Season under Quarantine, “posted this week. “It ‘s okay if Kawhi [Leonard] he says things like that. Defend a championship. Let’s not stumble if someone like Patrick Beverley talks about junk; this is how he feeds his family. We get it. We respect the hustle and bustle.
“But we think it ‘s disrespectful for Paul George, who has not won, to put himself at the level of [LeBron James] i [Anthony Davis]. That motivates us. “
George, in an interview with NBA TV during Clippers Media Day last season, answered a reporter’s question by asking if he and Leonard were the league’s top duo saying, “I think yes.When you look at two guys playing at both ends, two guys who can go get a basket, two guys who can stop them from getting a basket, elite at both ends, I don’t see how that can be overcome “.
The Denver Nuggets figured out a way to do that, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to bounce the Clippers out of the Western Conference semifinals, thus thwarting a Lakers-Clippers clash.
On Wednesday, when asked about the passage of the book, Dudley explained that it was more about how the Lakers interpreted what George was saying than what the content of his message was, which caused the Lakers to get upset.
“Anyone can say anything,” Dudley told reporters in a video conference after the practice. “It’s what we use as motivation. And sometimes, if you ever remember Michael Jordan, all the things he used as motivation for him. It wasn’t like they were wrong. It’s what I see.”
Dudley was asked if, as a veteran role-playing player, she was hypocritical in calling an All-Star like George, just as George was elevating himself to a conversation that included NBA champions when he had never played the finals.
“So, giving me the reason [to talk trash back]? I do not know. I don’t know what gives me the reason. Fourteen years, 900 games, played with more than 25 halls of fame. Future coach, future GM, I think I put a little bit of work into talking about it, “Dudley said.” It does not mean that what I say is correct. “
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue seemed to agree with Dudley’s mistake.
“A book? Jared Dudley?” Lue asked before the Clippers played the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. “I know I probably can’t sew here, so I won’t sew, but who cares? Just be who you are, play your game, who cares what people say and what people outside think … as for me, I don’t really care what people on the outside say. And, you know, I hope PG doesn’t either. “
Dudley detailed in the book that it wasn’t just George’s comments that fell under the Lakers’ skin, he added that a Clippers advertising campaign was plastered throughout the city, including one strategically located near the road. which leads to the installation of the Lakers. it also provided plenty of fuel. There was too much talk for the taste of the Lakers.
“My comments were more about how we saw motivation,” Dudley explained Wednesday. “Paul George is a great player, a MVP candidate. It doesn’t mean that what he said wasn’t bad. But the difference is … how do you see someone like LeBron and AD, who don’t say anything. They’re saying, ‘ You know what, we’ll find out who the king of Los Angeles is on the track “last year”.
The Clippers beat the Lakers on opening night in December, 116 to 109, in what Dudley hopes will be a preview of an upcoming postseason meeting.
“I mean, the Clippers, if you ask me who we’re going to play [last year], I thought we would play the Clippers in the Western Conference Finals. “I expected them to be there,” he said. “I hope they are there this year. They have talent, they have All-Stars, they have a great coach … and I think all of that is part of basketball.
“I think the league needs it. The league needs us to play the Clippers, the league needs us to play in Brooklyn … We see them a lot.”
Not too high.
“We know the Lakers will always be … the Lakers will be LA,” Dudley said. “That’s what it is. It will always be our city. The Clippers could win ten championships and still be [that way]. It’s the story. That’s the way it is. “
ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.