LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers may have been lost in the playoffs last year, but Lakers reserve Jared Dudley, in a new book, revealed that his team was prepared for the “Battle for LA” because of Paul George.
“We heard some of these guys talking about how they are the team to be defeated in LA,” wrote Dudley, along with co-author Carvell Wallace, in his 42-page book, “Inside the NBA Bubble: A Championship Season under Quarantine, “” released this week. “It’s okay if Kawhi [Leonard] says things like that. He’s defending a championship. We don’t stumble if someone like Patrick Beverley is talking badly; that’s how he feeds his family. We understand. We respect agitation.
“But we think it’s disrespectful for Paul George, who didn’t win, to put himself on the level of [LeBron James] and [Anthony Davis]. It motivates us. “
George, in an interview with NBA TV during Clippers’ Media Day last season, answered a question from a reporter wondering if he and Leonard were the league’s top pair, saying, “I think so. When you look at two guys who play at both ends, two guys who can go and pick up a basket, two guys who can stop you from picking up a basket, elite at both ends, I don’t see how you can beat that. “
The Denver Nuggets found a way to do this, returning from a 3-1 deficit to repel the Clippers from the Western Conference semifinals, thus frustrating the Lakers-Clippers clash.
When asked about the passage of the book on Wednesday, Dudley explained that it was more about how the Lakers interpreted what George said than the content of his message, which angered the Lakers.
“Anyone can say anything,” Dudley told reporters on a videoconference after training. “It’s what we use as motivation. And sometimes, if you remember Michael Jordan, all the certain things he used as motivation for him. It wasn’t like they were wrong. It’s what I see.”
Dudley was asked whether, as a veteran player, he was being hypocritical in calling an All-Star like George, just as George was rising up in a conversation that included NBA champions when he had never played in the finals.
“So, giving me the right [to talk trash back]? I do not know. I don’t know what gives me the right. Fourteen years, 900 games, played with more than 25 members of the Hall of Fame. Future coach, future GM, I think I tried a little harder to talk about it, “said Dudley.” It doesn’t mean that what I say is right. “
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue seemed to agree with the part about Dudley being wrong.
“A book? Jared Dudley?” Lue asked before the Clippers played against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. “I know I probably can’t curse here, so I won’t curse, but who cares? Just be who you are, play your game, who cares what people say and what people outside think. .. So far as I am concerned, I really don’t care what people say from the outside. And, you know, I hope PG doesn’t either. “
Dudley detailed in the book that it wasn’t just George’s comments that angered the Lakers – adding that a proud Clippers advertising campaign spread across the city, including one strategically placed near the highway that leads to the Lakers’ practice facilities, provided plenty of fuel too. It was a lot of talk for the taste of the Lakers.
“My comments were more about how we consider motivation,” explained Dudley on Wednesday. “Paul George is quite a player, a candidate for MVP. It doesn’t mean that what he said was not wrong. But the difference is … as you see as someone like LeBron and AD, they say nothing. They saying: ‘You know what, let’s find out who the king of Los Angeles is in court’ last year. “
The Clippers defeated the Lakers on their opening night in December, 116-109, in what Dudley hopes will be a preview of an upcoming postseason meeting.
“I mean, the Clippers – if you were to ask me who are we going to play [last year], I thought we were going to play against the Clippers in the Western Conference finals. I hoped they were there, “he said.” I hope they are there this year. They have the talent, they have the All-Stars, they have a great coach … and I think this is all part of basketball.
“I think the league needs this. The league needs us to play against the Clippers, the league needs us to play against Brooklyn … We see them very well.”
Just not much.
“We know the Lakers will always be … the Lakers will be LA,” said Dudley. “That’s right. It will always be our city. The Clippers could win 10 championships and it would still be [that way]. It’s the story. That’s how it is. “
Ohm Youngmisuk from ESPN contributed to this report.