LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers could have lost each other in the playoffs last year, but the Lakers are reserving Jared Dudley in a new book, revealing that his team was ready for the “Battle for LA ”Because of Paul George.
“We hear some of those guys talking about the team they have to beat in LA,” Dudley and co-author Carvell Wallace wrote in their 42-page book, “Inside the NBA Bubble: A Championship Season under Quarantine, “released this week.” It’s good if Kawhi [Leonard] say things like that. Defend a championship. We don’t stop if someone like Patrick Beverley talks trash; this is how he feeds his family. I took. We respect the agitation.
“But we think it’s disrespectful for Paul George, who didn’t win, to put himself at the level of [LeBron James] and [Anthony Davis]. That motivates us. “
George, in an interview with NBA TV during Clippers’ press day last season, answered a reporter’s question, wondering if he and Leonard were the top duo in the league, saying, “I think so. . When you look at two guys playing on both ends, two guys who can go get a basket, two guys who can keep you from getting a basket, elite at both ends, I don’t see how you can beat that. “
The Denver Nuggets found a way to do this, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to save the Clippers from the Western Conference semifinals, frustrating a Lakers-Clippers showdown.
When asked about the passage in the book on Wednesday, Dudley explained that it was more about the way the Lakers interpreted what George said than the content of his message, which made the Lakers angry.
“Anyone can say anything,” Dudley told reporters at the video conference after the practice. “It’s what we use as motivation. And sometimes, if you ever want to remember Michael Jordan, all the sure things he used as motivation for him. It wasn’t like he was wrong. That’s what I see. “
Dudley was asked if, as a veteran role-playing player, he was hypocritical in shouting an All-Star like George, just as George stood up in a conversation that included NBA champions when he had never even played in the Finals. .
“It simply came to our notice then [to talk trash back]? I do not know. I don’t know what entitles me. Fourteen years, 900 games, played with over 25 famous halls. Future coach, future GM, I think I’ve put a little bit of work into where I could talk about that, “Dudley said.” It does not mean that what I say is correct. “
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue seemed to agree with Dudley’s mistake.
“A book? Jared Dudley?” Lue asked before the Clippers play the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. “I know I probably can’t outline myself here, so I won’t argue, but who cares? Be who you are, play your game, who cares what people say and what people outside think. … Until “As far as I’m concerned, I really don’t care what people outside say. And, you know, I hope PG won’t be either.”
Dudley detailed in the book that not only George’s comments came under the skin of the Lakers – adding that a Clippers billboard campaign had been plastered throughout the city, including one strategically placed near the highway leading to the Lakers’ training facility, he also provided a lots of fuel. He talked too much about the Lakers’ taste.
“My comments were more about how I saw the motivation,” Dudley explained Wednesday. “Paul George is a fucking player, an MVP candidate. It does not mean what he said was not wrong. But the difference is … you see how someone like LeBron and AD, they say nothing. They say,” You know what, we’ll find out who King LA is in court “last year.”
The Clippers defeated the Lakers on the opening night of December, 116-109, in what Dudley hopes will be a preview of the upcoming postseason.
“I mean Clippers – if you were to ask me who we’re going to play [last year], I thought we would play the Clippers in the Western Conference finals. I expected him to be there, “he said.” I expect him to be there this year. They have talent, they have All-Stars, they have an excellent coach … and I think all this is part of basketball.
“I think the league needs it. The league needs us to play the Clippers, the league needs us to play Brooklyn … We see them very well.”
Not too much.
“We know the Lakers will always be … the Lakers will be LA,” Dudley said. “This is. It will always be our city. The Clippers could win 10 championships and still be [that way]. It’s history. That is right. “
Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN contributed to this report.