Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George has come to his superstar teammate’s defense amid a subtle shot recently taken by ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith at Kawhi Leonard.
It can be recalled that Smith, during the coverage of the 2024 NBA Finals, said “Nobody on this planet knows what it’s like to play without a star like Paul George, I’ll leave it at that!” That was a bold thing to say for Smith, especially since George was just sitting two seats away from him. George laughed off Smith’s statement while saying “Don’t do that,” at the time.
Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George on Stephen A. Smith’s jab at Kawhi Leonard
But George did not stop there. In a recent episode of Podcast P, George had the following to say about Smith’s swipe at Leonard (h/t Joey Linn of Sports Illustrated:
“I didn’t like that moment… Kawhi wants to play… We exhausted a lot out of Kawhi this season. So at some point your body breaks you down… I didn’t appreciate that moment. I know I laughed because the situation was lighthearted, but deep down it was like you gotta let that go, Stephen A.”
Paul George on Stephen A. Smith’s Kawhi Leonard jab:
“I didn’t like that moment… Kawhi wants to play… We exhausted a lot out of Kawhi this season. So at some point your body breaks you down… I didn’t appreciate that moment. I know I laughed because the situation was… pic.twitter.com/JCJIUh4HT1
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) June 19, 2024
It’s a nice gesture by George, but it can’t also be denied that Leonard played in only two games as he dealth with right knee inflammation in the 2024 NBA Playoffs where the Clippers lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round.
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