Clippers Top Tweets – Week Three

Hello Clipper Nation! Welcome to #ClippersTopTweets, our season-long series highlighting Clippers Twitter.

This week, the Clippers went 1-1 in back-to-back match-ups with the Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers. Despite the light schedule, there was plenty to talk about. Let’s take a look.

Load Management

Many pearls were clutched after the Clippers announced that Kawhi Leonard would sit out last Wednesday’s game against the Bucks. A consistent theme among critics was how Kawhi’s not playing was “unfair” to fans.

For all the disgruntled, here is the thing. Players are not obligated to jeopardize their health because you paid for a ticket. You don’t get to dictate how a player manages his health because you paid for a ticket. You are not entitled to private health information about a player because you paid for a ticket. Being a ticket holder does not entitle you to ANYTHING but a seat at an NBA game between teams. Your ticket does not entitle you to see a particular player on a particular night any more than it entitles you to spill beer on a player, disparage a player’s mother or call a player racial epithets. Get over it.

Unsurprisingly, some of the more ridiculous takes on the load management issue came from Lakers homers. Take this Tweet, from orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Klapper, for example:

Seriously? Sports media has long praised athletes who continue to play while injured, incorrectly depicting them as more masculine, more worthy of praise, and more committed to their craft. Do we really need medical professionals to hop on this dangerous bandwagon too? Normalizing sports injury and criticizing health-promoting and prolonging measures for professional athletes runs afoul of a physician’s oath to “do no harm.” Stop it.

Also interesting, but oh so predictable, is the revisionist history regarding LeBron James. A number of the “hot takes” on load management this week have been of the “but LeBron would never!” variety. How soon these folks (including LeBron himself) forget James’ history of “resting” games during the regular season (dating back to Miami), his walking into a contest (against the Clippers) last December with a wine glass in hand, and his taking the last six games of the 2018-19 season off after it was clear the Lakers were not making the playoffs. But please, go on.

Regardless of where you fall on the load management issue, we can all agree there are some NBA analysts that could use some rest, right? Sorry C-Webb!

A Week of Accomplishment

Despite the drama surrounding Kawhi’s day off, the Clippers had much to celebrate this week. Landry Shamet’s shot seems to be coming back, ever so slowly, and Ivica Zubac has been excellent in the paint, showing fearlessness, skill and confidence. But Doc, Trezz and Pat Bev were the big winners this week.

Doc Hits 900

Doc Rivers hit the 900 career win mark with last Thursday’s victory over Portland, becoming the 13th coach in NBA history to reach such a milestone. True to form, a humble Doc gave much of the credit to the colleagues and players he has worked with over the years.

Of course, 900 wins is not enough for some.

Despite the fact that Doc’s vocals continue to fall somewhere between the Cookie Monster and Dikembe Mutombo, 900 career wins is an amazing accomplishment. Congratulations Doc!

Trezz Balls Out

In the loss to the Bucks, the Kawhi-less Clippers showcased their depth and talent. Big man Montrezl Harrell had a particularly good game, logging a career-high 34 points (bringing him to over 3000+ career points), as well as 13 rebounds (tying his career high), 5 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. In case you missed it, here are his highlights.

The Lopez twins had no chance. Wonder twin powers, deactivated!

Trezz’s floaters were particularly on point.

NBA, be warned...

Pat Beverley continues to be THAT Guy

Patrick Beverley also played big this week. Beverley is the undisputed heart and soul of the Clippers franchise, setting the tone every outing. The following Tweet could be posted during every game about the Clippers’ motor, and would always be accurate.

Against the Bucks, Beverley logged 20 points, 10 rebounds (his second 10 rebound game this season), 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. He also went 5 for 5 at the line. Although his stats were not quite as impressive the following night against the Trail Blazers, Mr. 94 Feet absolutely SHUT DOWN Damian Lillard in the fourth quarter, holding the prolific scorer to zero points in the frame.

Lillard, who entered the contest the second-best fourth quarter point-producer in the league (second only to Kawhi Leonard), had just 22 points overall in the contest, his lowest scoring game of the season.

Which leads me to the last Tweet of this installment. Imagine thinking it makes sense to mock players for giving 110% every time they hit the hardwood. Clown.

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