Clippings: Who belongs in the Super Super House?

Episode 2 of this season of Bleacher Report’s Game of Zones was released Thursday, and since that’s the closest we’re getting to the NBA basketball at the moment, let’s break it down from a Clippers perspective.

If you haven’t seen the episode, please watch it first, if only for the daggers Patrick Beverley stares at Anthony Davis every time he is on screen.

Among the many delightful Clippers-related jokes in this episode, including the league’s undying love for Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams’ undying love for Allen Iverson, there is actually an interesting plot point about who belongs on the “All-Realm” team.

Based on the constructs the world built in Game of Zones, the All-Realm Team — or the Super Super House — is essentially the best 12 players in the league, excluding Giannis Antetokounmpo (for story reasons) and the injured Kevin Durant. The Game of Zones list thus includes LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Davis, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Jayson Tatum, Rudy Gobert, Luka Doncic, Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Chris Paul.

Leonard is an obvious choice, a top-three MVP candidate at the very least, but the exclusion of Paul George merits some discussion. He has a stronger pedigree than Tatum, Doncic, Gobert, and Jokic. George’s season had been interrupted by injury, but the snub was a bit unexpected.

At the very least, George should have been given the opportunity to walk out in disgust when CP3 was chosen, like Durant, Kyrie Irving, Carmelo Anthony (what happened to the Banana Boat?), DeMarcus Cousins, Russell Westbrook, and Jimmy Butler. Hatred for Paul runs deep within the realm.

George wasn’t an All-Star this year and willingly accepted the omission given the number of games he had played. But it would be interesting to see if he could squeeze onto third-team all-NBA with the quality of his performance, even if the quantity was a little lacking. George remains an elite defensive wing and his offense is as good as it has ever been, excluding his outstanding 2018-19 campaign. That’s one more complaint to lodge at the Mediadel.

On to the links...

• The Sacramento Kings are set to open their practice facility on May 11, and the Lakers are expected to shortly follow on May 16. Meanwhile, there is no word on if and when the Clippers will be taking that step.
• If the NBA does come back, the league is worried about the mental health repercussions of playing during the pandemic.
• Antetokounmpo had his social media accounts hacked Thursday, and Patrick Beverley inadvertently and hilariously posted an ad about online safety at the same time.
• Bleacher Report examines the near-term futures of the Clippers and their crosstown rivals.
• The pandemic has forced NBA players to homeschool their children, and former Clipper Boban Marjanovic has wonderful anecdotes about the experience.