One day after James Harden was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, Harden aired out his dirty laundry and threw a few people under the bus on his way out of Philadelphia.

Harden told the media that the role he was given on the 76ers left him playing “on a leash.” He argued that he was not a system player. “I am a system,” he boasted.

Harden isn’t completely wrong about his “system” argument. Systems are built around NBA superstars. The problem with his claim is he is no longer an elite player. He’s still an above-average starter in the league, but the days when he was an All-NBA performer or MVP candidate are long gone. In terms of the superstar hierarchy in Clipper Land, Harden falls behind Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Harden is now 34. He’s past his prime. He is playing for his fourth team in three years. He is five full years removed from his 2018 MVP season. If the season ended today, his 17 points per game would be the lowest of his career since 2012 (his last season with Oklahoma City). Seems like we have a systemic problem for The Beard.

Meanwhile, his understudy in Philly, Tyrese Maxey, has been unleashed and thriving under head coach Nick Nurse’s system. The Sixers are playing at a much faster pace, which wasn’t the case when Harden was running point because he preferred to walk the ball up the court.

L.A. started the season 3-1 and were among the league leaders in offensive and defensive efficiency. After acquiring Harden, the Clips lost their lost their rhythm for a stretch and dipped to 30th in offensive efficiency and 24th in defensive efficiency. Since Dec. 1, the Clippers have regained their footing and have become a top-five offensive team. Harden has blended well with Leonard and George in the starting lineup, and the Clippers have climbed back in the top tier in the conference.

Despite their recent success, the Clippers remain vulnerable against teams with length and size up front. During their annuals Grammys road trip, the Clips’ lone blemish in an otherwise successful 6-1 roadie was a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs are solid in the backline, anchored by 6-11 center Jarrett Allen and first-team all-defensive forward-center Evan Mobley. Allen and Mobley combined for 30 points and 26 rebounds.

In the Battle of L.A. series, the Clippers had all sorts of problems dealing with L.A. Lakers big man Anthony Davis in their three losses against their intracity rivals. Davis punished the Clippers’ small ball unit offensively and defensively, taking away driving lanes and making them one dimensional.

Harden’s ability to attack the paint is supposed to be the key to free up some of the congestion on offense. But Harden was part of the problem. He finished with 23 points in the 116-112 loss to the Lakers on Feb. 28, but 12 of them came in the second quarter. He was MIA during the fourth quarter when the Lakers mounted a furious rally that erased a 21-point deficit. When asked by reporters what went wrong, Harden said, “everything.”

“It’s on all of us,” said a frustrated Harden, who was just 2-for-9 from behind the 3-point line and committed four turnovers in the third loss to the Lakers.

“We are in this together, you know what I mean? It’s frustrating,” Harden said. “You can’t be up [21] points at home and give away a win, especially this time of the year. It’s that simple.”

The Lakers loss capped a brutal February for the Clips.

In their high-profile showdown with the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 12, the Clips were punished by the Timberwolves’ twin towers Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns in a 121-100 beatdown. A week later, the Clippers were routed by Oklahoma City 129-107 coming out of the All-Star break. It marked their second straight defeat to a team ahead of them in the standings.

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue is well aware of the team’s shortcomings against bigger squads. His solution? Go small.

“I thought our physicality wasn’t there. They played better than we did. They outreached us, outplayed us and everything,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.

Lue admitted that the size of the T-Wolves affected the Clippers, especially Kawhi and PG as both struggled to get to their basket and couldn’t make enough shots from the perimeter to pull Gobert and Towns out of the paint.

“When we’re not making quick decisions and playing the right way, they will make you look bad. I thought their length bothered us. They’re the No. 1 defensive team for a reason.”

When asked how to combat the size and length issue, Lue said “going small” is their best option.

Going small has been Lue’s modus operandi since he took over the job. He prefers a small ball lineup to finish games, usually playing Harden, Leonard, George with Norm Powell and Russell Westbrook or Amir Coffey. The small lineup normally works against most teams, but not against teams with quality bigs.

The best way to counter size is to push the pace and don’t allow defenses to get set. Unfortunately for the Clips, the man charged with initiating the offense prefers to walk it up.

“You can’t walk around offensively. You have to get to your next action. Things we have worked on the last two years. We just have to do a better job in doing that. If you don’t do that and you don’t do it hard, you’ll get beat every night,” Lue said earlier in the season during the Clippers’ six-game losing streak.

Lue refused to put all the blame on Harden during the team’s awkward period. But he did engage in some “dialogue” with his veteran guard about how they could make things work.

“He just needs to understand what we need from him. Him being aggressive, not looking at the bench. Just do your thing,” Lue said. “If you do it too much we’ll let you know. He’s a special player. When you come into a new situation it is tough to come in and try to take it over. With PG, Kawhi and Russ, we’ve had these conversations. We just have to make sure to make James as comfortable as possible because he is going to be huge for our team on what we’re trying to do.”

The Clippers’ season turned around in late November when Westbrook reportedly approached Lue and suggested that he’d be willing to come off the bench to allow Harden more time to gel with Kawhi and PG13 on the first unit. Since Westbrook’s selfless move, the Clippers were able to right the ship and now find themselves in the thick of the race for the best record in the West.

But just when the Clippers were finding their groove and surfacing as serious contenders, the injury bug bit them at the worst possible time. Westbrook fractured his left hand on March 1 and Kawhi left the game against the Timberwolves on March 12 with back spasms. Down two of their studs, the Clippers blew a 22-point lead against the Wolves and ended up getting demolished 118-100. Harden was MIA yet again, finishing with just 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting with four turnovers.

The Harden experiment is still a work in progress. There are days when the Clippers look like word beaters and then there are games when they look like they’re headed for an early playoff exit. The Clips will secure a playoff berth for sure, but the regular season is not where this team will be judged. The final grade will come in the postseason where Harden often failed to deliver.

Harden, who is now playing for his fourth team in three years, acknowledged his playoff shortcomings in a 2022 interview with Fox Sports, but didn’t put all the blame on himself. “I’ve had a few bad games in close-out games. Not all of them have been bad,” he said. “Quite frankly, a lot of the times our team wasn’t good enough to compete for championships, if you want to be honest. There’s only so much I can do.”

He could only do “so much” in a couple of high-profile meltdowns in the postseason.

Against the Golden State Warriors in the 2018 Western Conference finals, Harden had a hand in the Houston Rockets’ disastrous cold streak as the team missed 27 straight 3-point shots. Harden went 2-for-13 from behind the arc.

Against the Boston Celtics in 2023 the Eastern Conference semifinals, he teased the Sixers with a tantalizing 42-point performance in Game 4. A few days later, he had a 9-point stinker on 3-for-11 shooting in Game 7 in Boston.

Anything less than a trip to the conference finals would be considered a huge disappointment for L.A. Should the Clippers get bounced from the postseason in first or second round, the question will pivot to re-signing Harden. Is owner Steve Ballmer — despite having deep pockets — willing to give Harden the big payday he coveted in Philly?

It’s a million-dollar question for a billionaire owner.

When the Los Angeles Clippers played the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 17, it marked just the 16th time that Paul George and Kawhi Leonard shared the court together for the Clippers. The lack of cohesion and lineup uncertainties are Clippers coach Tyronn Lue’s biggest challenges since taking over the team during the pandemic year of 2020.

Not knowing who’s available on a week-to-week basis can’t be a fun exercise for Lue. It’s a credit to his coaching talent that the Clippers are still in playoff contention despite all the injuries and the myriad of challenges in dealing with load management.

At the center of the Clippers’ load management saga is Leonard. The two-time NBA Finals MVP has yet to regain his MVP form after tearing his ACL during the 2021 playoffs. Kawhi, who missed all of last season while recovering from the injury, has looked a step slow in the 22 games he has appeared so far this season. He’s averaging just 19.4 points per game, which would be the lowest in his career since 2014-15, and his hallmark lockdown defense is nowhere near Kawhi level.

Kawhi is the unofficial face of the player load management movement. When he was in San Antonio, the Spurs carefully massaged his recovery from various injuries. The load management practice carried over to L.A. when Kawhi joined the Clippers in 2019. But load management only works when you’re saving the player from wear and tear. It’s a different story when the player, as in Kawhi’s case, is coming back from a significant injury and his damaged body is preventing him from regaining his old form.

ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst offered a grim assessment on Kawhi’s health earlier this season. “I don’t think Kawhi looks very good. He’s had a couple of OK games, and his shooting particularly don’t look good,” Windhorst said on “NBA Today.”

Throughout his tenure with the Clippers, Lue has seen more lineup changes than a manager in a Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Lue has had to shuffle his lineups so many times this season that he’s running out of cards. He said he just wants to see his team play together for a 15-game stretch to find out its true potential. He would even take a 10-game stretch.

“I know we have a good team,” Lue said after his Clippers dropped to 23-23 for the season after losing 120-110 to the 76ers at Crypto.com Arena. “But as far as staying healthy, we need to establish some continuity.”

One night after making those statements to reporters, Lue was forced to reshuffle his starting lineup again as The Athletic reported that both Leonard and George would miss the game against the Utah Jazz as a precautionary measure since it was a back-to-back game. Leonard and George didn’t have an injury designation. The Clippers termed the missed game as a “rest” day.

“We’ve just been behind the 8-ball just in terms of injuries and lineups and guys in and out,” said George, who briefly returned to the court to play the Sixers after missing the previous five games due to a hamstring injury. The team is carefully managing George’s hamstring injury and don’t want any setbacks. But at some point, George will have to play consecutive games to get back into All-Star form. He was very rusty against the Sixers, scoring just 13 points on 11 shots.

“I thought he was a little rusty as far as handling the basketball, making the plays, that’s to be expected,” Lue said of George. “Just getting him back on the floor was a positive thing for us.”

But it’s not just George and Leonard who’ve been hit with the injury bug. Veteran point guard John Wall, the Clippers’ big signing in the offseason, sustained an abdominal injury against the Denver Nuggets and is expected to be out for a minimum of two weeks.

When the Clippers are whole, they have a potent unit capable of challenging for an NBA title. With a healthy Kawhi and a healthy PG13 in 2021, the Clippers reached the Western Conference finals before losing to the Phoenix Suns. Without Kawhi in the lineup, the Clippers finished third in the Pacific Division and missed the playoffs in 2022.

Lue isn’t wrong when he said the Clippers are a “good team.” However, a good team can’t be great when it is unable to get any continuity. The Clippers had championship aspirations entering the 2022-23 season. But if Kawhi and PG continue to miss games, the Clippers could miss another opportunity on fulfilling their full potential.

Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are two big reasons why the Clippers will be a force in the Western Conference. (GETTY IMAGES)

Donald Sterling will no longer be an embarrassment to the NBA now that he has been replaced by new Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.

Sterling embarrassed himself, the Clippers and the NBA when a recording was leaked by his personal assistant V. Stiviano on April 25, sending shockwaves through the basketball community. In the recording, he got caught red-handed in a racist rant. New commissioner Adam Silver acted quickly and banned Sterling from the league for life and fined him $2.5 million. The fine was the maximum allowed under the CBA. Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, stepped in and offered $2 billion to buy the team, shocking people regarding the amount of money for a largely unsuccessful franchise during the course of their history.

The Clippers won a franchise-best 57 games last season, eclipsing the 56 wins they set in 2012-13. But the Clippers lost in the second round of the playoffs for the second time in three seasons, so there will be a little added pressure this season for head coach Doc Rivers and point guard Chris Paul.

Rivers is entering his second season as the head man and they need to be able to get past the first round. However, his arrival seemed to light a fire under big man DeAndre Jordan, who finally had a career year (10.4 points per game, 13.6 rebounds per game, 2.5 blocks per game and 67.6% on field goals) and achieved some of the vast potential he had been teasing the Clippers with for years.

Paul, 28, was consistent as ever last season (19.1 ppg, 10.7 assists per game, and 2.5 steals per game), but he is entering his fourth season with the Clippers and needs to help the team achieve more when it matters. The West is of course stacked from top to bottom, but if he wants to be considered the best PG in the game, he has to help them win more. Being the best at his position is tied to success in the playoffs.

The team didn’t have a lot of money to spend on free agents in the offseason, but they landed a solid signing when they picked up Spencer Hawes, 26, for four years and $23 million ($5.8 million per season). He made $6.5 million last season and took a minor paycut. He is going to give L.A. one of the best backup big men in the league.

He will backup power forward Blake Griffin and Jordan at center. Last season, L.A. was forced to use Byron Mullens, Ryan Hollins, and Glen Davis at center when Jordan was out of the game. Hawes gives Doc a super-sub at PF/C like Jamaal Crawford gives them at PG/SG. Hawes averaged a career-high 13.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 3 apg for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers. He also made an amazing 41.6% of his 3-pointers. Hawes is a great passer in addition to being a good outside shooter (36.1% on 3-pointers), he has registered nine assists three times in his career. He’s going to give L.A. a nice offensive option when he plays center with Griffin and he can slide over to PF and play the stretch four when Griffin needs a rest.

Crawford is the other super-sub the Clippers have and he’s a huge part of an improved bench with the Hawes signing. Crawford had a great year (18.6 ppg and 3.2 apg) and gives them a great 1-2 punch at shooting guard with J.J. Redick (15.2 ppg, 45.5% and 39.5% on 3’s). Redick was very solid in his first season with the Clippers, even though he played in just 35 games due to a back injury. Having Crawford means they don’t lose too much when Redick is out, but if he’s healthy the Clippers will have one of the best benches in the NBA.

The Clippers lost their backup PG Darren Collison when he signed with the Sacramento Kings. They didn’t have to look far to find a replacement as they snatched Jordan Farmar away from the team across the hall, the rival Lakers. Farmar may not always be the picture of good health himself, but for 15-18 minutes per game and maybe 18-20 starts a season he’s a solid pickup. Farmar is coming off his second-best season of his career (10.1 ppg and 4.9 apg in 22 mpg). However, he played in just 41 games due to a variety of injuries.

Griffin blossomed last season into a full fledged superstar as he averaged a career-high 24.1 ppg (up from 18 ppg the previous season), 9.5 rpg and a career-high 3.9 apg. Griffin’s improvement as a passer means teams can’t just double-team. His defense still needs some work but no player is perfect.

Matt Barnes returns as the starting small forward and provides defense and some timely shooting. Barnes, 34, will have most of the minutes since Jared Dudley was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks (for veteran swingman Carlos Delfino basically). Barnes averaged 10 ppg and 4.6 rpg last season, but his 3-point shooting in clutch situations was good, despite a mediocre 34.3%. Delfino will see some backup minutes there once he’s healthy, he missed all of last season with a foot injury. He averaged 10 ppg and made 37% of his 3-pointers in the 2012-13 season with the Houston Rockets. Reggie Bullock may have a better shot at seeing minutes at SF than SG since the team is loaded at that position.

Outlook

The regular season is just a warmup to the postseason, and that is where the Clippers will be judged. Rivers, CP, Griffin are all going to be graded based on their ability to get beyond the second round. This is a team that should easily win 53-55 games and claim one of the top seeds, unless injuries hit and they need to show they are a true contender for the NBA title. The Spurs have to get old sometime, right?

Darren Jacks is a contributing writer for OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @djroxalot.

Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are two big reasons why the Clippers will be a force in the Western Conference. (GETTY IMAGES)

Los Angeles Clippers play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler has a rule. The first team to 100 points almost always wins. In nine of their 14 consecutive victories — the longest current streak in the NBA — the Clippers reached the century mark first.

These are heady days for the long-suffering Clippers. They’ve set a franchise record with their 14th straight win Tuesday, beating the Denver Nuggets 112-100 on Christmas Day.

Still, Chris Paul wants to keep the fans’ euphoria in check, saying, ”We’re not trying to peak now. We’re trying to build something.”

While the Lakers, their Staples Center co-tenants, continue to stumble with a losing record and an early-season coaching change, the Clippers are flying high led by All-Stars Paul and Blake Griffin. Bolstered by one of the league’s deepest benches, which was remade in the offseason, Paul and Griffin haven’t been seeing much playing time in the fourth quarter.

That’s when they become cheerleaders for free agent additions Jamal Crawford and former Laker Matt Barnes, along with Eric Bledsoe, Lamar Odom and Ronny Turiaf, the latter two being the other former Lakers on the team.

The Clippers have shown they’re capable of winning without big numbers from Griffin. They are 14-3 in games when he scores less than 20 points. He’s averaging 18 points and 8.6 rebounds. Veterans Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill, another free-agent pickup, have been vocal with their leadership and support while rehabbing injuries.

”We’re all playing for one goal and not individual accolades,” Paul said.

The Pacific Division leading-Clippers have taken advantage of a soft stretch in their schedule to win those 11 straight games, with victories over some of the league’s worst teams, including New Orleans, Charlotte, Toronto, Detroit, Phoenix, and Sacramento, their next opponent on Friday night.

Before the streak began they knocked off some of the league’s best. They have wins over Memphis, the Lakers, San Antonio (twice), Atlanta and defending NBA champion Miami.

”They have a chance to win it all,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said.

Paul and Griffin have clearly clicked on and off the court in their second season together. They frequently kid each other during their dual postgame interview sessions held in a separate room next to the locker room. Paul regularly rallies his teammates for outings on the road, including dinners and trips to a mall or movie theater. The team took in the new Tom Cruise flick ”Jack Reacher” on their last trip, a 4-0 venture as part of the current winning streak.

There’s a family feeling in the locker room, too, with Paul’s 3-year-old son and Barnes’ twins among the kids cracking up the players after games. Big man DeAndre Jordan has a drawing of himself done by Caron Butler’s 8-year-old daughter taped to his locker.

”I’ve never been on a team this close,” said Crawford, averaging 16.6 points off the bench. ”Everybody here is pulling for each other, whether it’s your night or somebody else’s night. Everybody has a role to play.”

Willie Green, who has started 22 games in place of Billups, sat when the veteran guard recently returned for three games before getting hurt again.

”He didn’t complain and he didn’t play a minute,” Paul said, giving an example of the attitude permeating the team.

The last Clippers team to win 11 in a row was the Buffalo Braves in 1974-75.

”Most of the guys weren’t even born then,” coach Vinny Del Negro points out. ”We want to make our own history and that’s only going to happen if we have the right mentality.”

Del Negro preaches defense first and the Clippers have bought into it.

”We can score on any given night,” Paul said. ”As long as we defend, we give ourselves opportunities to win.”

This story was written by Beth Harris of The Associated Press.