Los Angeles Clippers Media Day 2019
Media days mean a little more for championship contenders, and the Los Angeles Clippers certainly fit the bill heading into the most anticipated season in franchise history.
Before the Clippers square off with the Los Angeles Lakers in their Oct. 22 season opener, they met with local and national media in Sunday's media day. Here is a look at some of the notable quotes and storylines from the afternoon.
There was a notable lack of star power for the United States in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, but that likely won't be the case in the 2020 Olympics.
Count Clippers stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard among those who are interested in representing their country.
"I would love to be a part of the Olympics and represent, but this comes first," George said, per Arash Markazi of the Los Angeles Times. "Hopefully in June we're the last team standing and I'm healthy. I'm in."
Leonard echoed the sentiment:
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The Americans finished in seventh place at the World Cup, losing to France in the quarterfinals and Serbia in the ensuing contest before beating Poland in the seventh-place game. The story of the tournament for the Red, White and Blue was the players who pulled out of competition, and the result was a disappointing showing that will surely stick with the program until the 2020 Games.
Michael Kaskey-Blomain of CBS Sports noted a mere four of the 35 players who were initially selected for the U.S. player pool took the court in the World Cup.
Leonard and George would change the equation for the Americans, but they have a championship to chase first.
Main Focus is Winning an NBA Title
While Leonard expressed interest in playing for his country, he also made his priorities perfectly clear.
"I do want to play," he said of the Olympics, per Mark Medina of USA Today. "But I'm taking it one step at a time. Right now, it's about taking the Clippers to the Finals."
There was a time at which taking the Clippers to the Finals would have been a nearly impossible task, but that is no longer the case. The additions of Leonard and George give them arguably the best one-two punch in the league, and the latter is fine matching up against anyone:
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