Since I value the work of journalism, only posted an excerpt: https://theathletic.com/2222210/202...fz9TULbzRzLh25Jyr20kztzTB3-Y9RzDahpZfq5PO9aoA Makes me wonder how much special treatment our stars get here.... But according to multiple league sources, the perks the Clippers gave Leonard and George began to compromise the standard of the culture they had built over the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons — the very culture that the Clippers used, in part, to attract Leonard and George to Los Angeles. Some of those perks included: • Leonard and George were the only players to have their own personal security guards and trainers. • Leonard and George had power over the team’s practice and travel schedule, leading teammates to believe Leonard canceled multiple practices. • Leonard was allowed to live in San Diego and commute from there, which often made him late for team flights. • Leonard and George typically didn’t speak to the media until at least 45 minutes after games concluded, under the guise of postgame treatment or workouts. This usually resulted in their teammates speaking with the media first, and for longer, essentially becoming the public voices of the team. • Teammates also believed that Leonard and George were able to pick and choose when they played. Not only did they sit out games entirely, but also at times they accepted or declined playing time in the moment. While star treatment can work in a locker room, and some of these practices aren’t necessarily unique to the Clippers, it resulted in a lack of buy-in from this particular group, league sources said.
Funny how Harden has such a negative rep, yet look at this ****. Harden at least plays every damn game even when he doesn't have to.
Just finished reading the article and goodness, do superstars in this league quickly forget their roots and where they came from. The way they want to be cuddled and **** would be irritating as a role player. Also, it's funny but a Westbrook for Paul George trade, would likely be great for the Clippers since they don't have a legitimate voice in that locker room, but it would probably be no better for the Rockets come playoffs since Playoff P sulks and gets small when the moment comes. I still would do the trade every time, but the article truly provides a good perspective on Kawhi's/PG's personalities.
It's ironic that the players most likely to be getting star treatment are the same players who are most likely to talk about being "humble' in the press.
According to KOC and others, rockets have given harden every perk/control possible. From hiring his entourage as security to scheduling, roster decisions & everything else. Not saying it's a great or terrible thing either. Sometimes it's the best way to keep a great player happy while other times it's just a good way to spoil rotten a good player along with the team culture.
Leadership is about inspiring your followers to work together for the common goal. A leader who is not willing to do what he asks others to do is not likely to have a lot of followers working hard for him.
At least Harden has been a Rocket for a long time. This is his team and honestly it's no surprise that the franchise has catered to him. Kawhi/PG though, they just got to the Clippers and I can understand Harrell/Lou/Pat were sour on the accommodations they were provided.
But what's weird is that, Williams, Beverly and Harrel never had a bad word to say about him? I mean, look at how much stuff that is persumably coming from Harrell? He's never said one bad word about Houston. Look at Beverly, still has a great relationship with Harden and even called him after the MVP award ceremony. Lou Williams has been reported as saying he loved Houston and didnt want to leave. He then went on Sjax and Matt Barnes podcast and said "He wished Houston had been more patient with the process, i think we could have done something special there." So ....idk I feel like there is a clear difference here in how those dudes view Harden as opposed to PG and Kawhi. Are they afraid of Harden? It doesnt seem that way. Harden has a lot of power, but maybe he treats dude's better too, idk. Im not trying to cape for James if he's spoiled then that's not a good thing, but there is a clear difference here from what Im seeing.
I think it's more a pg problem than anything else. Harrell was reported as saying oh was always right sarcastically. And how one couldn't argue with him etc. Don't know if I've heard anything close negatively said about kawhi/harden but we aren't privy to all the info. Superstar treatment is absolutely fine/necessary if required when it's a kawhi, curry, harden, LeBron etc. Not so good when it's a carmelo, irving, cousins, marbury, etc.
From reading the article, I would say you are right. It seems like it was accepted that Kawhi would be treated like a king due to his reputation and the type of player they knew they were getting. Playoff P on the other hand appeared to rub everybody the wrong way and felt that he had to earn his strides just like the rest of them.
I mean the article itself is pretty negative towards Kawhi. There was lots of stuff he was doing that was specifically rubbing those teammates the wrong way. The female staffer thing, commuting to San Diego from LA, not being involved with his teammates, load management. Seems like they did not like those aspects of him at all.
But were any of those direct criticisms of Kawhi by named teammates like how pg was called out by Harrell? Or were they more similar to the general vague criticisms directed at harden in the other athletic article. There's going to be envy, annoyances, dislike etc in most work environment, especially when it involves money, power and privileges.
Right here " On and off the court, the players never established the requisite chemistry, continuity or trust to win a championship in their first year together. The organization estimated it could layer superstars on top of the core group of returning role players to win a title, but it awfully misjudged the internal blowback over everything from playing time to preferential treatment to personality differences. “How do you ever build a strong team with that **** going on?” one team source said. “I thought from the beginning, ‘We’re doomed. Kawhi wants too much special treatment.’” That's from the article. That's as direct as it gets. And we already know teammates had a big problem with Kawhi's load management. And we see that these 3 specifically(Williams,Harrel, and Beverly) were the ones who were having specific problems with Kawhi and PG. Just because they dont have direct confrontations with Kawhi doesnt mean they werent annoyed with him. I think there were some stuff with the Raptors having problem with him too. Like all of the crticisms in this particular article were more specific than the one directed at Harden. Harden does have an accountability problem. And I def think he can be toxic for sure. But he's also in the gym a lot. And he also doesnt load manage. And from a team chemistry perspective, I think he interacts with his teammates more than Kawhi does. I mean I agree. Im just highlighting here that the dude's who have problems with Kawhi and PG here, dont really say as much about Houston in terms of toxicity and negativity.
Well, this definitely explains what happened between Kawhi and the Spurs. Kawhi wanted special, star treatment, and Popovich wasn't having it.
While I agree Pop wasn't going to coddle Kawhi and definitely pushed back against him (as seen in his interviews while Kawhi was out indefintiely) I'm guessing the Spurs were definitely willing to give Kawhi the special, star treatment. If not, then Pop wouldn't have tried so hard to repair the relationship prior to the start of that season before he was traded. Superstar players just have so much leverage/value to the organization. Organization can only hope to acquire and do wahtever they can to keep them. It's just a bonus if they are more like Duncan/Dirk/Curry than Shaq/Lebron/Kawhi in terms of management/personalities.
Those two aren't good enough to get that level of perks over their teammates. Pele, Jordan, Ronaldo, Mahomes sure, but Paul and KY are budget rental stars playing for a second fiddle, small market team.
Not sure about Harden's special treatment, but something related could be that they were more willing to get along with Harden since he sets them up off the dribble and make them look better in a high profile team. You also can't hate a gym rat who doesn't go CP3 and get on your ass for not performing 110% during practices. Also Harden's vices weren't weird or anti-social. His worst knocks were for his partying and strip club life, things he weren't exclusive with teammates... Everyone knows Harden's weaknesses, esp Harden, and those guys were perfect compliments for him
Kawhi's career is a strange one. He has been on the under/overrated roller coaster for all of it. Now he's at a point in his career where he will either prove to be some sort of fluke championship caliber superstar that could only win in certain situations or a true superstar type that can overcome less than ideal situations. He obviously let the praise from his incredible and fortiutous championship run get to his head. I mean, that king of LA New Balance commercial is looking really bad after his choke job/lay down against the Nuggets. He has a chance to redeem himself this season, but I just don't see it if he doesn't humble himself a bit and take on that quiet, stabilizing leadership role he had on the Raptors. I imagine he might want to see Beverley and Lou Williams gone and in that way start completely anew with no remnants of the old Clippers left.
