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Kawhi Leonard: Clippers have been better than Lakers ‘as far as a basketball standpoint’ over past few years

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were officially introduced as members of the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday afternoon, and the event got off to an uproarious start thanks to Steve Ballmer. 

The Clippers owner has given us all sorts of viral moments over the years with his courtside reactions, and added another to the growing reel with his exclamation that signing Leonard and George was “PRETTY DAMN COOL!” If that wasn’t enough, he also stuck his tongue out in laughter after flubbing his on-stage handshake with Leonard. 

From there, the two superstars each answered questions, and the reigning Finals MVP was by far the more interesting of the two. As we’ve seen over the past few months, Leonard is actually a bit more intriguing than everyone assumed. 

The most notable of Leonard’s comments came when he was asked about playing in the shadow of the Lakers, and correctly noted that the Clippers have actually been the better team lately. 

Leonard’s full answer:

“As far as the last the last few years, as far as a basketball standpoint, the Clippers have been better. It’s media, you know what I mean. They’re gonna get the attention, they’re the Los Angeles Lakers, they’ve been winning championships for a long time. It’s just a media aspect. Even if we do win, who knows how the Clippers will change over. I don’t feel like I’m focused on that. I just want to win and I do things that make myself and my teammates happy. Whatever’s our goal in mind, that’s gonna be my focus and drive to just make us happy. If we go to the championship and win and we’re not getting no coverage, that’s fine by me. I’m good.”

Leonard’s statement about the Clippers’ basketball superiority got a cheer from everyone in the gym where the event was being held, and for good reason. Not only was he praising his new team, but he was speaking the truth. The Clippers have indeed been much better than the Lakers, who haven’t been to the playoffs since 2013, and are yet to win 40 games since that season. 

In addition, Leonard spoke about the importance of keeping his negotiations quiet. 

Leonard’s response:

“A lot of things are made up now in today’s world of the NBA. You could start a website or a blog and push that out and say ‘Kawhi’s doing this, Kawhi’s doing that.’ It’s always important to me to have a mutual understanding between everyone and be transparent, if it’s good or bad. I feel like that builds a great relationship. Once we had our meeting I felt like they were true to their word. Nothing really got out, it was a great decision like I said.”

Leonard’s free agency saga was unlike anything we’ve seen in recent NBA times, with almost no information available about his decision-making process. We knew it was down to the Clippers, Lakers or Toronto Raptors, but no one knew what he was thinking until the announcement that he was signing. And certainly no one had any idea bout the George trade that would accompany his move, which is a credit to him and the Clippers, who kept things well under wraps. 

Furthermore, Leonard thanked the Raptors and the city of Toronto for their time together, which was as good of a one-year run as anyone could have imagined. 

Leonard’s full comments:

I want to thank the Toronto Raptors fans. I don’t have social media, so I’m not able to put out a paragraph or whatever. Just thank Toronto, the city, the country. It was a great, amazing season. Best parade ever. Thanks to the doctors for delivering my baby, my baby boy. He’s three months now, still healthy. I also want to thank the city as far as the restaurants, giving up that “Ka-Wine and Dine” throughout the playoffs. I took advantage of that. The players, they already know what’s up. Text, face-time, real talk. The coaching staff as well. The whole organization, really, just thank the whole city. Thank you. 

Leonard was always likely to leave the Raptors after being traded there last summer, but he brought the franchise their first title in his one season with the team, which will make him a legend in Toronto forever. Still, it’s a bummer for all of the fans to see him go, and it was nice of Kawhi to give everyone there a shout-out. 

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