LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers might have missed out on the playoffs last year, but Lakers backup Jared Dudley revealed in a new book that his team was prepared for the ‘Battle for LA’ by Paul George .
“We heard some of those guys talk about how they are the team to beat in Los Angeles.” Dudley, along with co-author Carvell Wallace, wrote in their 42-page book, “Inside the NBA Bubble: A Championship Season under Quarantine”, published this week. “It’s okay if Kawhi [Leonard] says things like that. He is defending a championship. We don’t stumble if someone like Patrick Beverley is talking trash; this is how he feeds his family. We understand. We respect the hustle and bustle.
Photo: Getty.
“But we think that it is a lack of respect on the part of Paul George, who has not won something, to catch up with [LeBron James] Y [Anthony Davis]. This motivates us. “
George, in an interview with NBA TV during the Clippers press day last season, responded to a reporter’s question wondering if he and Leonard were the league’s top duo by saying, “I think so. When you look at Two guys who play both ends, two guys who can go and get a basket, two guys who can prevent you from getting a basket at both ends, I don’t see how you can beat that. “
The Denver Nuggets found a way to do it, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to get the Clippers out of the league. Western Conference Semifinals, thus frustrating a confrontation between the Lakers and the Clippers.
When asked about the passage from 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 in a video conference after practice. “It’s what we use as motivation. And sometimes, if you ever remember Michael Jordan, all the true things that he used as motivation for him. It wasn’t like they were wrong. It’s what I see.”
Dudley was asked if, as a veteran role player, he was being hypocritical by calling an All-Star like George, in the same way that George was elevating himself to a conversation that included NBA champions when he hadn’t even played in the Finals.
“So give me the right [de responder basura]? I dont know. I don’t know what gives me the right. Fourteen years, 900 games, I played with more than 25 Hall of Famers. Future coach, future general manager, I think I put in a bit of work to be able to talk about it, “Dudley said.” It doesn’t mean what I’m saying is correct. “
The Clippers coach, Tyronn Read, seemed to agree with the part that Dudley was wrong.
“A book? Jared Dudley?” Lue asked before the Clippers faced the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. “I know I probably can’t curse here, so I’m not going to curse, but who cares? Just know who you are, play your game, who cares what people say and what people outside think. .. So far as for me, I don’t really care what people say on the outside. And, you know, I hope PG doesn’t either. “
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Dudley detailed in the book that it wasn’t just George’s comments that got into the Lakers’ shoes, adding that a boastful Clippers ad campaign swept across the city, including one strategically located near the highway that drives to the Lakers practice facility lots of fuel as well. He talked too much for the Lakers’ liking.
“My comments were more about how we viewed motivation,” Dudley explained Wednesday. “Paul George is a great player, a candidate for MVP. It does not mean that what he said is not wrong. But the difference is … how do you see someone like LeBron and AD, they don’t say anything. They saying, ‘You know what, we’ll find out who the king of Los Angeles is on the court’ last year. “
The Clippers beat the Lakers on December opening night, 116-109, in what Dudley hopes is a preview of the next postseason meeting.
“I mean, the Clippers, if they were going to ask me who will we play against? [el año pasado], I thought we were going to face the Clippers in the Western Conference finals. I was hoping they were there, “he said.” I hope they are there this year. They have the talent, they have the All-Stars, they have great training … and I think this is all 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.”
Just not too much.
“We know the Lakers will always be … The Lakers will be Los Angeles,” stated Dudley. “That’s what it is. It will always be our city. The Clippers could win 10 championships and it would still be (that way). It’s history. That’s right.”
ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.
