Celeste Mendez

The NBA announced today that LA Clippers guard/forward Paul George has been selected as a reserve for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game. The 70th NBA All-Star Game will be held at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Sunday, March 7th at 5 p.m. PST on TNT.

George will make his seventh career All-Star appearance (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2013) and his first with the Clippers. George joins Kawhi Leonard as an All-Star, marking the seventh time in franchise history and first time since 2014-15 that at least two Clippers were named to an All-Star roster.

In his 11th NBA season, George is averaging career highs in assists (5.5), 3P% (47.1), and FG% (51.1). The 6-foot-8 forward currently leads the league in 3P% (min. 7.0 3PA) and is the only player averaging at least 24 points while shooting better than 45% from beyond the arc. George also ranks third in offensive rating (120.5) and fourth in net rating (13.3).

George has scored 30 points or more in four games this season and 20 points or more in 16 games. He has also made at least five three-pointers in eight games, tied for the fourth-most in the league. On February 3 against Cleveland, George became the first player in franchise history to make eight three-pointers or more in two games. George has made at least six three-pointers in 11 games with the Clippers, the most such games in franchise history.

The 2012-13 NBA Most Improved Player holds career averages of 24.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.7 steals. A native of Palmdale, Calif., George was voted to the 2018-19 All-NBA First Team. Four times he was voted to the All-NBA Third Team (2018, 2016, 2014, 2013) and twice to the All-Defensive First Team (2019, 2014) and All-Defensive Second Team (2016, 2013).

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Paul George Selected As Western Conference All-Star

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Photos: NBA DRAFT 2018

As this year’s draft prospects walk into the L.A. Clippers Training Center in Playa Vista, surrounding the court are key evaluators and decision- makers including Head Coach Doc Rivers, President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank and Chairman Steve Ballmer. However, the man running the workout and explaining the drills is Director of Player Programs and General Manager for the Agua Caliente Clippers, Dee Brown.

Prior to joining the Clippers, Brown served as Director of Player Development for the Denver Nuggets and the Sacramento Kings and he was an assistant coach under Michael Malone with the Detroit Pistons. His ability to cultivate talent is informed by his own experiences as a player, having spent 12 years in the league playing for the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic.

Throughout the season Brown’s role entails developing players both on and off the field, but in preparation for the draft he is tasked with, as he says, helping “identify the best players for this basketball team.”

“We want a certain player that fits the Clippers characteristics that Steve Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and Doc Rivers [have] addressed to us. [These are] the characteristics that we want of our guys: hardworking, selfless, being about the right things, all about the team and understanding their role... You have to have these types of traits. Running, jumping and dunking, we can work on that stuff, but the DNA characteristics of being a Clipper, we are trying to establish that.”

The Clippers are growing closer to selecting their 12th and 13th picks in Thursday’s draft, and what will set these highly-skilled players apart is whether they have the heart of the Clippers. By creating situations in which these prospects need to think on their feet, interact with players that they’ve never met before and perform at a high level, Brown and the rest of the front office are better able to assess the quality of player that they see.

Given Brown’s extensive experience in the league and proven success in his first year as General Manager for the Clippers’ G-League team, he is an invaluable asset in evaluating the intangibles of potential future Clippers.

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Dee Brown, the Man Behind the Pre-Draft Workouts

With the NBA Draft quickly approaching, the L.A. Clippers continued their search Wednesday for the next wave of young talent, hosting six prospects from five universities around the country. The workout group included Miles Bridges (Michigan State), Matt Farrell (Notre Dame), Gyorgy (G.G.) Goloman (UCLA), Aaron Holiday (UCLA), Kevin Knox (Kentucky) and Doral Moore (Wake Forest). Holding the 12th and 13th picks in next week’s draft, the Clippers are in a unique position to select two prospects that will represent an infusion of young premier talent.

So, what exactly are these players being evaluated on? Director of Player Programs, Dee Brown, says the team wants to see prospects compete.

“The drills we do are a direct reflection of what we need to evaluate. We put them in situations where they need to think and feel uncomfortable at times.”

But that’s not all that Brown and the rest of the front office are looking for. As Brown states, “We are looking to evaluate guys on their ‘Clipper characteristics’, and that has to do with the way that they act on and off the court, and not just their skills. We want a [certain] type of player here. We don’t want just any player here.”

And given their track record, these prospects can certainly prove they belong here.

Under head coach Tom Izzo, Bridges left his mark at Michigan State. Bridges’ return to East Lansing proved to be beneficial for the wing. He grew into his frame and continued to lead the team and dominate the Big 10. In his second year, he led Michigan state in scoring, was a unanimous All-Big Ten First Team selection and a consensus Second Team All-American.

Knox is one and done and onto the NBA. The likely lottery pick made the most out of his freshman year at Kentucky, averaging 15.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He was named to the All-SEC First Team and SEC All-Freshman Team and recorded the eighth-most points in a season in school history.

As the third Holiday to enter in the NBA draft, Aaron has made a name for himself outside of the impressive shadows of his brothers. The junior guard, who averaged 14.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists while at UCLA, has proven to be a dependable scorer and will leave school ranked 25th on UCLA’s all-time scoring list.

Notre Dame’s starting point guard, Farrell finished the season averaging 16.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists his senior year. He was an offensive weapon and shot lights out from behind the arc, breaking both the school record for the most 3-pointers in a regular season game and in an ACC season. The New Jersey native was named All-ACC Third Team last year and Notre Dame Playmaker of the Year as a junior.

Goloman, who led the Bruins in blocked shots last year, has a strong defensive presence in the paint. Standing 6’10”, Goloman shot 52.3% from the field in his four years. One of his best games came against Arizona where he scored a career-high 16 points against projected top draft pick DeAndre Ayton.

Moore is intertwined with a little bit of Clippers history, having played at Wake Forest under former Clippers No. 1 overall pick, Danny Manning. Manning described Moore as having made the most progress he’s ever seen of any player in the offseason, and his junior year stats agree. This past season, he averaged 11.1 points and 9.4 rebounds, a step up from just 2.6 points and 2.2 rebounds the previous season.

Wednesday’s workout left both the Clippers and prospects feeling good. Bridges thought the workout challenged the group, “Every workout I have done is a lot of competition. This is just a lot more up and down than most workouts, and that’s good for us, testing our conditioning, testing our heart and will.”

Frank echoed those sentiments and highlighted that the team’s objective was to utilize today’s workout to evaluate prospects in a fatigued state. Because toughness is one of the key ‘Clippers characteristics,’ it’s certainly helpful to, in Frank’s words, “see how mentally they can respond to a little adversity.”

Celeste Mendez

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