Pro sports finally has a team that is built on the foundation of California’s edges.
While basketball’s L.A. Lakers get the most publicity, the new-look Los Angeles Clippers have transformed themselves in a way that says something about where California is going.
During the recently concluded free agent period, the Clippers managed to acquire two stars who are distinguished by being from places devoid of star dust.
First, they signed a free agent contract with Kawhi Leonard, considered by some to be the best basketball player in the world, as he led the Toronto Raptors to the most recent NBA championship. Leonard was described as coming home to L.A. but he’s actually an Inland Empire kid—from Riverside.
As a condition of his signing, Leonard demanded the Clippers trade for Paul George, an Oklahoma City Thunder star who is originally from Palmdale.
While the two players are among the top 10 basketball players in the world, neither was highly recruited by colleges. As it happens, the two chose CSU schools—George went to Fresno State, and Leonard to San Diego State.
So here they are, a tandem of stars from the outskirts of Los Angeles and educated in California but not at our fanciest institutions.
Is that a California, and a basketball team, that you can root for?