I’m a Clipper fan. I’ve been watching them since Lob City. But I’m also a big Paul George fan. This season has been particularly difficult for me because those two fandoms are now at variance with one another, after his departure to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Story time. I was at the airport in Geneva about to board a flight back to Tampa, when I happened to check my Instagram. It’s around 7:54 AM, so it was around 1:54 AM back home.
I was flabbergasted. I thought he’d for sure stay with Toronto. What NBA player wins a championship and dips immediately after? I haven’t refreshed my feed yet, but I’m looking through the Instagram comments. But people weren’t talking about the free agency decision – they were talking about a trade… a Paul George trade?
At this point, I’m hyped. My favorite player teaming up with my other favorite player, on a franchise that I’ve always liked. You couldn’t have cooked up a better scenario for me. I’m already asking my dad if we could get tickets to a battle of LA game. Bron and AD vs Kawhi and PG. I couldn’t even share my excitement with my friends because of how late the trade was announced.
Dang, the Clips gave up a lot for PG. 5 picks, 2 pick swaps, Danilo Gallinari, and SGA? I thought Shai played pretty solidly against the KD warriors. I guess the rationale is that they’re trading indirectly for PG AND Kawhi? Every GM would make that trade. PG’s 29, Kawhi’s 28 and fresh off a chip. That window is definitely wide enough to win at least once, and that matters considering the lack of playoff pedigree for the Clippers.
Fast forward to 2025. I think I was upset with PG’s decision to go to the Sixers, in part because I wasn’t ready to give up on ‘213’ (a fan-delegated nickname for Kawhi and PG). I wasn’t ready to give up on 15-year-old me’s dream of seeing PG and Kawhi hoist LA’s first championship together. I wasn’t ready to admit that the OKC Thunder might’ve gotten the better end of the deal, even though it’s been evident for the last 4 years probably.
I’m sure that the shortcomings that characterized the ‘213’ era are firmly lodged in the minds of Clippers fans. Or maybe they’ve been memory holed. Either way, I’ll revisit them. Buckle up.
Year 1. 2019-2020. PG was coming off a torn labrum and rotator cuff, so he missed the start of the season. I’ll never forget Kawhi’s debut when he torched the Lakers, despite the Danny Green legacy game.
PG’s debut was crazy too. 33 points against the Pelicans despite limited minutes, and he followed up the performance with 37 against the Hawks the game after. PG and Klaw’s debut together was extremely memorable. 42 combined points with a Kawhi game winning block against Kemba in OT. I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up PG and Kawhi’s joint masterclass against the pre-Anthony Edwards Timberwolves where they combined for 88. Then COVID-19 happened, and the Bubble happened (didn’t count), and we were back to the drawing board.
Year 2. 2020-2021. Pandemic-P memes were in full-swing. I was a little nervous for PG’s season (and braids) debut, being a little unsure of his mentality after the prior playoff mishap. He proved me wrong thankfully, scoring 33 points with a victory, a little foreshadowing of the season to come.
Kawhi’s overall series performance against the Mavericks deserves its own paragraph. It might’ve been the greatest performance I’ve witnessed, averaging 32.1 ppg on 61.2 % (?) from the field. Prime Shaq levels of efficiency, but from the midrange rather than at the rim. That stat itself blows my mind. Kawhi was on route to be in that conversation. It took a God-like performance to beat the Mavs in 7 though, crazily enough. I’m so sick of the Mavs.
Our next round was against the Jazz, and that Jazz team was scary. They were the one seed, and they had a young, dynamic Donovan Mitchell fresh off his historic battle against Jamal Murray in the bubble, a DPOY anchoring their defense in Rudy Gobert, and a number of crazy shooters- Bojan Bogdonović, Joe Ingles, along with the 6MOY in Jordan Clarkson. They were so stacked.
The Clippers lost the first two games against the Jazz, and it felt like déjà vu – they also lost their first two against the Mavs the season before. History did repeat itself thankfully, and the Clippers won the next two, with Kawhi and PG combining for 62 in Game 4.
That Game 4 though. That f*cking Game 4. We might’ve won, but Joe Ingles set the franchise back 4 years at least with that knee bump on Kawhi, tearing his ACL. They would’ve won 2021 for sure, and probably 2022. Knowing the context of the game hurts more too, considering the Clippers were up by 20 in the 4th, eerily parallel to Derrick Rose’s ACL tear in 2012 in a blowout. It wasn’t confirmed to be an ACL tear at that point though, but when Kawhi’s status for Game 5 was set to “out”, my heart sank.
Was our season over? Surely we can’t beat this devil-magic Jazz team for 2 straight games without our best player. I’m quite superstitious when it comes to sports, and I deliberately chose to sleep through the game. It was a Jazz home game, and I couldn’t force myself to watch it, knowing the inevitable was bound to happen.
I check the box score. We… won? How much did PG score? He scored 37? In Utah? This was a complete incursion into enemy territory. I wasn’t even upset that I slept through a legacy PG13 game- I was just thankful we got the W. Now all we needed to do was win one more at home.
Game 6 was the Terrence Mann game, and this was probably the peak happiness I’ve felt as a Clipper fan. We won, and we’ve finally broken the conference finals curse. Even if we lose in the CFs, this season’s been stamped as a success.
PG and DBook got into a scuffle during their regular season matchup, so it was certain that the Western Conference Finals would be *insert Martin Scorsese meme* Absolute Cinema. It definitely was, but the Suns got the W. I liked what I saw from the team, and felt optimistic going into Game 2.
This Game 2 was probably Paul George’s lone blemish on an overall extremely successful 2021 playoff campaign. Everyone knows about the missed free-throws leading to the Deandre Ayton dunk, but they don’t know about the two go-ahead buckets that PG made to even put the Clips in a winning position in the first place. Go watch the tape.
I’m coping – I know he should’ve made the free throws. Dang. Why couldn’t Reggie Jackson have been fouled? Why weren’t they guarding the rim better? If there’s 0.9 seconds on the clock, why wouldn’t we pack the paint? That game stings.
We won Game 3, but lost Game 4. But if anyone was capable of coming back from down 3-1, it would be Ty Lue. Game 5 was in Phoenix. To put it bluntly, Paul George probably had his best performance as a Clipper. 41 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals on 15-20 shooting. Game 5 PG is a real phenomenon, maybe besides last season. He, alongside Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant were the only players in NBA history to score 20+ points in the first 18 games of the postseason.
Unfortunately, the Clippers couldn’t get the job done in Game 6, capping off the deepest playoff run in Clipper history.
Year 3. 2021-22. Reggie Jackson was rewarded with a larger role on the team after his quality play in the playoffs once Kawhi went down. The vibe to the season was quite melancholic, given that there was pretty much zero chance of contention without Kawhi. PG started off the season aggressive, but inefficient, and got injured early on.
We made the play-in surprisingly, but we lost to the Timberwolves (Pat Bev’s championship game), and then Paul George got COVID-19 for the final play-in game against the Pelicans, and we lost that too. I was actually in attendance for the regular season game against the Pelicans in LA, and we blew them out, but it wasn’t the same story in the play-in game unfortunately. But at least Kawhi’s coming back next season, and it’s not like we would’ve done anything had we made the playoffs. Maybe we’re better off with an extended offseason.
Year 4. 2022-23. We signed John Wall due to the need for a playmaking point guard, but everyone knew that we weren’t getting Prime Wizards John Wall. Kawhi made his post ACL-debut against the Pistons. If I’m being honest, I knew it was a matter of time for Kawhi to return to form. He’s an inveterate hooper.
We ended up dropping John Wall and picking up Westbrook off waivers. Russ made his debut against the Kings, and instantly brought some toughness and defensive identity.
That Kings game though, was crazy. Probably the most stressful regular season game I’ve ever seen, and it’s not like the game was incredibly significant by itself – it was just a normal game. My heart couldn’t take it though – the score was 175-176, in favor of the Kings. Super back and forth. It went to 2 overtimes, and Malik Monk had 45 off the bench for the Kings. It was the second highest scoring game in the history of the sport. I was probably more sad we lost that game than I’ve been for some playoff game losses, which speaks volumes.
The season effectively came to a head though, during the Clippers vs OKC regular season game. This was the game in which PG backdoor-cut Lu Dort for a 360 degree slam in traffic. But this wasn’t even the most notable PG-Dort interaction in this game. PG went for an uncontested rebound that Lu Dort recklessly dived for, injuring his knee, and sidelining him for the rest of the season.
This was also around the time that Podcast P, Paul George’s podcast, debuted as well, so PG was able to farm some extra traction for the podcast by teasing his return (or lack thereof) to the team come playoff time. It was strategic – I was tuning in strictly to find out his game-time status. Clipper fans hate Podcast P, and rightfully so. It felt unserious alluding to a return and providing some hope when there wasn’t anything to be hopeful for.
That might’ve been a little harsh. The Clippers always have something to be hopeful for when Kawhi’s on the floor. He’s generational. When we won Game 1 against the Suns with Westbrook throwing the ball off Booker after blocking him to seal the win, I might’ve received some noise complaints from the room next door. Kawhi had 38 points. My mentality went from “let’s just extend the series long enough for PG to come back” to “we can straight up win this series”. Kawhi had 31 the next game in a loss, which was a bit sobering. We knew it’d be a series though.
But it wouldn’t be the Clippers if there wasn’t some tragic ending to the story. After that Game 2, it was reported that Kawhi had a torn meniscus, and that he’d be out for the rest of the series. We lost every game after, despite some glimpses of heroism in Norman Powell, in which he averaged 22 PPG.
Year 5. 2023-2024. The final year for ‘213’. Paul George said that he’d be “on his bully sh*t” while streaming Warzone, so there was some optimism from delusional fans like myself, knowing that we’d need him to carry in the interim while Kawhi was rehabbing. He started off the season super strong however, averaging 29 for the first 5 games.
The Clippers landed James Harden on Halloween, and it felt like this could be our year. James Harden was the perfect game manager, and contrary to popular sentiment that surrounded his abilities at the time, was still a capable scorer, despite not being 36 PPG Harden. His exit from Philly was slightly messy – he was seen bad-mouthing Daryl Morey to children in China, which was a crazy look. Regardless, we needed a playmaker and someone to slow the game down for Kawhi and PG.
However, the Clippers got off to a mediocre start, going 0-6 in the first 6 games with Harden. It was evident that Westbrook was having a difficult time playing in Harden’s orbit, given their redundant skill sets as playmakers. Westbrook, in one of the most gracious, ego-less moves I’ve seen from a former superstar, volunteered himself to the bench. It was unheard of for a player with Westbrook’s stature, to relegate themselves willingly.
This was exactly what the doctor ordered. The Clippers went 11-3 once Harden became the starting point guard. That one Dallas Mavericks commentator that was trashing Harden for 5 minutes was eating his own words. I’m still not sure what that dude’s problem was – that tirade seemed almost personal.
The Clippers actually reached the 1 seed, which hadn’t happened in the previous seasons. Everything was clicking. Paul George was having his most efficient season from the field, perhaps due to James Harden’s gravity. Kawhi had a long stretch of healthy performances, which was the only thing that truly mattered – our team goes however far Kawhi takes us.
Near the end of the season, Kawhi was out for “knee inflammation”. It was a little inconvenient, but I figured he should be as rested as possible to gear up for the playoffs. But the more and more games he was being ruled out, the more unnerved I became. How inflamed can his knee be? Is he going to come back?
We were matched up against the Mavs for the third first-round matchup in 5 years. I was nervous, but we’ve also beaten the Mavs twice, although we were without Kawhi this time. But now we have Harden, and it was still speculated that he could return.
Harden scored 20 points of his 28 in the first half, while Zubac put in 20 and 15. PG also scored 22 to seal the victory down the stretch. I’m excited, and we just found word that Kawhi’s coming back. If we were able to beat the Mavs without Kawhi, the series has to be a wrap at this point.
The Mavs disagreed. The Mavs went on to win Games 2 and 3 despite Kawhi playing. It was obvious that Kawhi wasn’t healthy though, only scoring 15 and 9 points in the games respectively. The Clips actually took Kawhi out for Game 4, and they managed to scrape together a win with PG and Harden both dropping 33. Game 4 was super nerve wracking – the Clips were up big, with the Mavs retaking the lead near the start of the 4th, with the Clippers finally stealing back the lead at the end.
The series was tied 2-2 going back to LA, but this Mavs team was clearly much stronger despite the series record. They won Games 5 and 6 quite decisively. I had a feeling that Game 6 would be PG’s final game with LA, so I wanted him to just unload the clip, so to speak, to create a semi-memorable end to the ‘213’ era. But he just refused to shoot, maybe in part due to Derrick Jones’ defense. And that upset me, because it’s argued by fans and pundits that PG’s fundamental flaw as a player stems from his lack of scoring hunger, given his talent.
I know it’s a lot, but this piece is the product of five years of painstaking loyalty towards a team. If there’s one word I’d use to describe ‘213’ , it would be “unlucky”. We really were, and that’s just the truth.
There’s a lot to look forward to as a Clipper fan, given Norman Powell’s breakout season at 31 years of age, which is a story in itself, and Kawhi’s return to form. PG isn’t here anymore, and there’s been a vacuum effect that results in Norman Powell hopefully making his Allstar debut come February.
I’d delight in the prospect of the Clippers winning a championship this year. OKC looks like the team to beat out west, but I’d never bet against Kawhi if he’s healthy (a big if). But there is a small part of me wishes the Clippers could’ve gotten it done with PG. But in all sports, there’s no player that’s bigger than the team, and at the end of the day, everyone is expendable.
Rohit Ramaswamy's Blog 
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