Clippings: Clippers emphasizing mentorship with youth

Clippers fans rejoice, the start of official Clippers basketball is nigh. The flurry of pictures, videos, and news that came out of the first couple of days of training camp this week is surely enough to get Clippers fans giddy with anticipation.

From heartwarming moments with Nic Batum and Terance Mann at media day, to an interview with a hungry Brandon Boston Jr. during training camp, one particular point of emphasis emerged: learning from each other.

From the front office, to the coaching staff, now to the players in the locker rooms, the Clippers have placed player development at the forefront of their philosophy. The vets feel eager to take these younger players under their wings. And the youth seem humble and excited to learn from the vets. It seems that Lawrence Frank’s philosophy of recruiting and betting “on people, not just players” is paying off.

This season presents an opportunity for the Clippers. They have the ability to exceed expectations and make some real noise in the playoffs, but they also don’t feel restrained by the pressure that followed them the last few years as a title contender. They’re able to stay competitive and maintain the winning culture with the vets, while still developing young guys and giving more chances to the youth. And if both are done well, this season is an opportunity to both win now and establish the foundation to keep winning for many more seasons to come.

More news for Thursday:

• Get familiar with these people’s names and their voices: Bally Sports and the Clippers just announced the broadcast team and schedule for this season.
• Pfizer P and team took his new nickname to heart, as the Clippers join the lists of teams to report being fully vaccinated.
• Speaking of vaccinations, listen to Bill Simmons and guests discuss the Player Empowerment Era in the context of vaccine hesitancy.
• The league also finally puts their foot down. The NBA has announced a policy including no pay for players who will miss games due to local vaccine mandates (most notably in New York City and San Francisco).
• The Intuit dome, after setting the goal of being 100% carbon-free, goes even more green after announcing a new $300+ million deal with Aspiration.