Only lawn chairs and Khols t-shirts have folded harder than the way the Clippers crumbled during the Western Conference semifinals last week. Now, thanks to a new report from The Athletic, we're getting a clearer picture of what happened in the wake of their collapse.
Per the report, Paul George tried to rally his team following their Game 7 loss to the Nuggets, urging them to stay prepared for another run next season. His words were reportedly met with "eye rolls and bewilderment" from his teammates, mainly because George had a disappointing series against Denver.
In the postgame locker room Tuesday night, George was preaching to teammates to remain committed, for all the players to return to the team this offseason and stay ready to make another run. It was met by some eye rolls and bewilderment, sources said, because George did not back up his words with action in the series and the team has multiple free agents with decisions to make
Adding to George's bad play was the notion that George wasn't holding himself accountable for his poor play.
Paul George had a disappointing series against Denver, and had several moments that left him in compromising positions with his teammates — beyond just his production. Multiple teammates had verbal spats with George throughout the postseason, citing in their exchanges a lack of accountability from him
It was this lack of accountability that led to a heated exchange between Six-Man of the Year, Montrezl Harrell, and Paul George during game 2 of the Clippers' series against Denver. According to sources, Harrell was upset that George had two unnecessary turnovers. He tried to express this frustration to George, but George insisted that it wasn't his fault. This caused Harrell to erupt and accuse George of never taking accountability for his actions.
Harrell is one of the Clippers' unrestricted free agents this offseason. He may be looking to explore other options following this implosion, leveraging his Six-Man of the Year award to gain a lucrative contract elsewhere.
