We Clippers fans have spent the last year and a half trying to figure out who to blame for our steady demise. It’s Lawrence Frank. It’s Marcus Morris. It’s Ty Lue. It’s PG. It’s Zu. It’s the lack of a backup center. It’s…you get the point. There is no lack of blame being thrown around, and now it is being tossed at the new low hanging fruit: Harden.

Well, it’s probably a little bit of all of that; however, I cannot get past one simple issue that has been true no matter who was on the roster or in the starting lineup over the last two years. That is, if a team wants to beat the Clippers, they simply have to agree to play hard for four quarters. That’s it. Play hard. I wrote in the game chat at the start of the Nuggets game that “hungry teams are our kryptonite.” And it is largely true, and definitely not anything new, as we saw this play out over the course of last year.

The Clippers have the second highest paid lineup in the NBA. They also have four guaranteed future HOFers. On paper, you would ask who the Clippers might end up playing in the WCF because that series is inevitable. However, it’s not. In fact, it’s borderline laughable to think this team could make it there. But why??? Well, I will tell you…

This team has zero leadership and might be, at this point, full on anti-leadership. When you are an NBA veteran and can no longer figure out how to get up for games, you have no leadership. When you are a young NBA player and cannot figure out how to get up for games, nobody is teaching you. After watching the 213 era for years, I can no longer see any leadership or guess who it might come from. Ty Lue has looked checked out and I think that has to do with his lack of control of the roster. Paul George is admittedly not a strong leader. He is a nice guy and homie to most in the NBA, but he has never been known for leadership. The same is quite apparent with Kawhi. After years and years of watching Kawhi, it’s hard for anyone to convince me that Kawhi is a leader on and off the court. Those three people are your top guys on the squad and I don’t get ANY leadership vibes from any of them. I think they are all three very talented folks in their own right, but no longer see any leadership.

We have also moved on from guys like PatBev and Batum that, although secondary players, had those leadership type of skills both on and off the court. We have not replaced them with similar guys. As for Russ and James, they are still so new. Russ is the type of leader we need, but he can only do so much as the 3rd or 4th guy playing a clear backup role. James is so new that he doesn’t even look like he is comfortable to shoot an open shot. No matter how kind and gentle and sweet he is to his teammates, Harden also gives off vibes of “I will play when I play on my own terms.” For better or worse, it is what it is.

Bottom Line: This team does not consistently play hard. This team does not respond well to being punched in the face. This team, again, looks absolutely disinterested in the regular season, months after declaring the regular season is important. Teams with 4 future HOFers that are not completely washed should NEVER lose a game like they did to Denver. Never. There is zero excuse. If they play hard, they win going away. It’s inexcusable and the only thing I could think is that nobody was stepping up to change the energy. Change the attitude. Change ANYTHING about that putrid performance. I’m not worried about the talent level of the team, how washed certain stars are, or if Zu sucks or not. I’m worried we have a team that is just showing up, collecting checks, and relying on “talent” to beat everyone. Well, if that is the formula, we are done. The NBA is way too good to just show up and beat people. I think we learned that two nights ago. The only way this changes is if someone steps up and leads, changes the attitude, and plays like an old school Clipper. You know, those Clippers that felt so disrespected that they were going to go at you, no matter what, every time they walked on the court.