Kawhi Leonard sets the tone for Clippers' post-PG identity

During a media interaction last season, Kawhi Leonard highlighted the importance of defense and why he wanted it to be a top priority for the Clippers.

"We still want to be a defensive team first, even though we have a lot of talent offensively. Defense wins championships," said the two-time DPOY in December 2023 .

A two-time champion and Finals MVP, Kawhi knows what goes into the making of a championship. An elite two-way player, the Clippers superstar has seven All-Defensive Team selections and even led the league in steals during the 2014-15 season.

Replacing PG with defensive specialists

In the upcoming season, the Clippers, for the first time since 2019, aren't considered contenders in the West, primarily due to Paul George taking his talents to Philly.

Though Clippers President Lawrence Frank and the front office onboarded a few notable names, filling in PG-13's shoes is no small task, as All-Star level two-way players are not readily available.

The Clippers' signings this past summer to replace PG indicate the franchise wants to emphasize defense.

Four of the team's new players—Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum, Kris Dunn, and Mo Bamba—are known as defensive specialists, and the fifth addition, Kevin Porter Jr., is a young player with high upside on both ends of the court.

Defensive mastermind onboarded to staff

In addition, veteran defensive guru Jeff Van Gundy joined Ty Lue's staff this offseason. JVG, in all his years as a head coach, had his team as a top 6 defense .

The Clippers ranked 16th in defensive rating last season, with a scorecard of 114.6. That's likely to improve with Van Gundy on board.

Indeed, Kawhi's words of wisdom on defense winning championships appear to be the new motto of the Steve Ballmer franchise.

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