The LA Clippers, even though without an NBA championship, have placed its name among the best teams in the league. Several legends like Charles Smith, Ken Norman, and many others have all left a mark in their respective stints for the franchise.
The Clippers have continued to stack the roster with talented players, especially after acquiring the experienced James Harden from the Philadelphia 76ers. While the arrival of Harden boosts the team’s strength, a former NBA point guard has stated his doubts about the team’s success.
Austin Rivers explains how the Clippers to struggle
It might sound demotivating to the Clippers’ faithful to hear former NBA player Austin Rivers doubting the team’s chances of success this campaign. Given the LA Clippers’ back-to-back losses, Rivers has solid ground to weigh in his own judgement of the current situation of the franchise.
Austin Rivers said, “When you look at [the Clippers] as a whole, it’s hard to see how they could be functional going forward especially deep into the playoffs, they have 4 superstars and 4 guys who are used to being the man on their team. They’re gonna have to have guys step up and take a back seat.”
Austin Rivers appears to be more concerned for the Clippers while pointing out the difficulty of the four All-Stars working together successfully. Rivers also points out the possibility of everyone being unwilling to give up their opportunities for the team’s success.
Clippers collapsed their first James Harden-led game to Nets
After a successful trade from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Clippers, James Harden’s era kicked off in a bad way, as the franchise fell 100-93 to the Brooklyn. Harden could not impact the game in favor of his team and previously blamed the fans for trolling their unfortunate defeat at the hand of the Knicks in the game prior.
Weighing in on Harden’s performance, Kevin O’Connor recently wrote on X, “James Harden needs to start taking these spot up 3s if it’s going to work with the Clippers. It’s a good shot for him. He’s made 39.7% of catch-and-shoot 3s in his career. But he’s stuck in the bad habit of stopping the ball.”
While Harden faced his old team, he managed to average 12 points on 4 of 9 shooting, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 5 turnovers. Fellow stars Paul George with 24 points had bad turnovers, and Russell Westbrook scored 13 points only while Ivica Zubac struggled to protect the paint, all contributing to the team’s woe.
Amidst the franchise’ poor run of form, some fans are beginning to count them out of the playoffs and one tweeted, “I do not think the Clippers will be in the playoffs. They are not good.” Many fingers are crossed to see what comes at the season’s end, as the team overcame the same situation last season.
