"Nobody was beating us in 7" - Montrezl Harrell makes COVID-related claim about LA Clippers' title hopes in 2020
Philadelphia 76ers Montrezl Harrell reckons the COVID-19 pandemic played spoilsport to the LA Clippers' hopes of winning the 2019-20 NBA championship.
The 2019-20 season will be one of the most remembered, as the league was on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the strong title contenders that year was the Clippers.
Making the biggest splash in free agency by landing Kawhi Leonard, who was fresh off leading a championship in Toronto, and a prime Paul George, the Clippers were one of the most feared teams in the NBA.
Aside from the newly formed dynamic duo, they were surrounded by defensive players who are still at the peak of their powers. The likes of Marcus Morris, Lou Williams, Ivica Zubac, Pat Beverley, Terance Mann and Montrezl Harrell were all part of the team's core.
Had the pandemic not happened, Mann reckons the Clippers and not the LA Lakers would have won the championship. That was agreed by Montrezl Harrell who was named the 2020 NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
"Nobody (was) beating us in seven (games), man. We had to take off a month, almost two most and not play," Harrell said on the 'Gil's Arena' podcast.
"Where people had to sit in the house or we couldn't go to the gym. Now, you have to starting to ramp it back up and now you say we going to do a bubble."
With the pandemic stopping all basketball operations, the LA Clippers were forced out of their comfort zone and had to keep themselves in basketball shape from the confines of their homes, according to Harrell.
It was not a level playing field for all players, as some did not have the luxury of keeping in shape while the league was stopped.
"Everybody's not set up the same way, so we can't still stay on that consistent workout base of how we were doing. If we was constantly going in the gym- that gym access, but we couldn't really go in-- at least not at all," said Harrell.
How the LA Clippers fared during the 2019-20 season
Having the league on pause and resuming inside the Orlando bubble, the LA Clippers ended the season with a 49-23 record to finish second in the NBA Western Conference.
In the playoffs, they beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, with the series ending at 4-2. The LA Clippers were knocked out in the NBA Western Conference semifinals by the Denver Nuggets team with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in seven games.
Kawhi Leonard that season averaged 27.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.8 steals, while Paul George contributed 21.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals a night.