two random comments -- in a flu/pneumonia haze -- post CP3-Clippers game/post-game confrontation.
1: Isn't that just a really bad look for CP3? One, he's the friggin' head of the players' assoc and for him to be part of a crew barging into another team's locker room is super juvenile for someone who presents himself as the face of mature professionalism. Beyond that, doesn't it highlight the nagging doubt about him as a mega-superstar? I really want to love CP3: love watching him play, love his style, love his focus, love his intelligence -- he is truly great and the whole package (love his little kid, too). And I don't buy the Skip Bayless style "you're not great if you haven't won championships" hot take. It's tough to win championships and CP3 has never had a team that had more than an outside shot. And yet, there does seem to be this flaw he has - whether it be punching the guy in the nuts at Wake Forest to the game 7 meltdown vs the Rockets (ironically) to Clipper-land complaints that he pointed fingers/never took responsibility, there just seems to be a connecting thread of a guy who needs to be in control and loses it a bit if that control frays. This regular season game vs the Clippers is that in a microcosm: after a somewhat graceless exit just return to L.A., wave to the crowd, say some nice things about his years there, play hard and go home. Instead he makes snarky comments, was clearly over-emotional during the game, and then is part of juvenile hijinks after the game. In the larger scheme, who cares....just a passing beef that is kinda funny, but it does make one wonder if CP3 just somehow has a character flaw that shows itself at inopportune moments.
2: I know there was some chat early in the season from El Uno and a few others about how the Clippers might have an interesting run,. That's been largely derailed by a furious run of injuries moving them from underdog to long longshot. That said, they are super fun, interesting team. You can see that without CP3 yelling at them/at the refs constantly they're much looser and with Doc relieved of GM duties Franks and West (and whomever) have done a great job at getting complementary pieces -- exactly the sort of complementary pieces they didn't have when they had the great starting 5 of CP3/Griffin/Jordan/Reddick/Moute. It's easy to imagine this team sneaking into the playoffs, and if healthy being one of those "will take any team to 7 games" pain-in-the-ass squads. That's especially true if Beverly were able to make it back -- read a blurb that it's an outside chance, though seems highly doubtful -- assuming not it's more of a woulda/coulda/shoulda comment....but in any case it is a much more fun team to watch now.