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Paul George Makes Honest Statement on Clippers Being Figured Out Last Season

Former LA Clippers star Paul George believes the team peaked early last season

Joey Linn

Apr 12, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George (13, left) and forward Kawhi Leonard (2, center) and guard James Harden (1, right) watch the game from the bench during the third quarter against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena.
Apr 12, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George (13, left) and forward Kawhi Leonard (2, center) and guard James Harden (1, right) watch the game from the bench during the third quarter against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena. / Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
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The LA Clippers had one of the most dominant stretches of the 2023-24 NBA regular season. Going 23-5 in December and January, the Clippers owned the best record in basketball for that two-month stretch.

Making a brief appearance atop the Western Conference in the first week of February, the Clippers looked to be a real championship contender, but went just 17-16 the rest of the season.

While injuries played a role in that mediocre finish to the season, they were far less of a factor than they had been in previous seasons. The Clippers peaking before the All-Star break was much more about teams figuring them out than anything else.

During a recent episode of his Podcast P show, former Clippers star and current Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George admitted this, saying teams figured the Clippers out and it was downhill from there.

"We started figuring it out," George said of that dominant stretch LA had. "Then we go through a stretch of like a month, month and a half, where we were just playing extremely high-level basketball... Being out there with [Russell Westbrook], [Kawhi Leonard], James [Harden], [Ivica Zubac], the whole squad. Being out there with them, it was a presence that it felt like we were gonna win every time we touched that floor."

George said this was his favorite part of the season, and wishes that feeling could be bottled up.

"I wish you could bottle that up and be like, 'You know what, we figured it out, let's hold off and take this to late April, early May,'" George said. "I feel like we peaked out, teams figured us out, and it was downhill from there."

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Joey Linn

JOEY LINN

Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time across multiple platforms, primarily serving as a credentialed Clippers beat writer.

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