While most were sleeping, the NBA was losing its mind over the Clippers adding Kawhi Leonard and Paul George
In the dead of night on Friday, the Los Angeles Clippers delivered a one-two punch of adding Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to a team that now figures to be one of the NBA’s top contenders next year.
While most of the country was likely sleeping or doing more important things than staring at their phones, the basketball world was frothing at the mouth of a the new-look Clippers, a new rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers and new intrigue on what caused George to force a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
NBA Twitter reacts to the Clippers’ big night
Nearly every NBA player who was awake at the time had something to say, including one of Leonard and George’s new teammates.
Don’t talk to me
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) July 6, 2019
🤯
— Zach LaVine (@ZachLaVine) July 6, 2019
Gawd damn!!
— andre (@andre) July 6, 2019
Hahahaha naw bro what lol
— Julius Randle (@J30_RANDLE) July 6, 2019
I love it!!! Happy For @LAClippers and @DocRivers for pulling this one off and kept it quiet the whole time! Wtf happen in OKC? That’s the real question!
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) July 6, 2019
This is the quietest heist I've ever seen!!!!!!!!!!! 😨😳😐😬
— 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) July 6, 2019
OMG
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) July 6, 2019
That LAL vs. LAC rivalry gonna be 🔥🔥🔥
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) July 6, 2019
Now that’s what I’m talking about!!!The NBA man!!!!!
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) July 6, 2019
Wait whatttttt. This night just got even more crazy (wasn’t sure that was possible) PG and Kawhi to the Clips!? Wow.
— Meyers Leonard (@MeyersLeonard11) July 6, 2019
Bruh, speechless!
— Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) July 6, 2019
And of course, there were reactions from the rest of the internet. And so many jokes.
Only the NBA can do this at 2am Eastern
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) July 6, 2019
Recap of the Kawhi Leonard era in Toronto: pic.twitter.com/9CMgM6ixhB
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) July 6, 2019
Lakers put in all that work and still might finish with a worse record than the Clippers for the eighth straight season. You truly hate to see it
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) July 6, 2019
— offseason shrill (@theshrillest) July 6, 2019
Kawhi snatches exec of the year honors straight from rich Paul wow
— Contrarian Contrarian (@basquiatball) July 6, 2019
BEVERLEY-PG-KAWHI
LET ME SAVE YOU THE TROUBLE JUST THROW THAT MFER OUT OF BOUNDS AND GET BACK ON DEFENSE RIGHT NOW DON’T EVEN BOTHER TRYING TO SCORE— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) July 6, 2019
In the NBA today, everybody is a free agent at all times.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) July 6, 2019
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both wanted to be in LA, but not with LeBron...
— Andrew Sharp (@andrewsharp) July 6, 2019
Even for the NBA, this is totally absurd.
— Mike Prada (@MikePradaSBN) July 6, 2019
From Lakers POV this is a calamity. They not only forsook all other July options in pursuit of Kawhi, they now have to reckon with the Clippers having a one-two punch arguably just as good as the LeBron/AD pair they worked so hard for. Just down the hall!
— Bill Oram (@billoram) July 6, 2019
Kawhi making the call at 1 am on a Saturday within hours of an historic earthquake hitting his new city is the most Kawhi possible move.
— Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) July 6, 2019
This is more fodder for those who beat the drum that it’s tough to play next to Russell Westbrook. KD never explicitly said such and put his name on it. But Paul George just went to the top and asked for a trade.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) July 6, 2019
Looking forward to Kawhi taking out a full page ad in a Toronto newspaper that just says “Thanks”
— Leigh Ellis (@LeighEllis) July 6, 2019
I feel bad for the Lakers but this is tremendous content.
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) July 6, 2019
I repeat....
*takes the deepest breath.
lmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo pic.twitter.com/ynWzTjvtNo— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) July 6, 2019
Players see the work teams put in. The Nets and Clippers have shown a greater ability to build than their in-town rivals in recent years...and this summer that's been more valuable than brand names.
— Matt Winer (@MattWinerTV) July 6, 2019
Pretty incredible that the Nets and Clippers, in less than a week, beat out the Knicks and Lakers, respectively, in an arms race. Unfathomable 20 years ago.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 6, 2019
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