Doc Rivers: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George Have 'Different Energy' Than Lob City

The new-look Los Angeles Clippers featuring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George appear to be legitimate championship contenders, much like the Lob City-era Clips who made the playoffs from 2012 to 2017 and won at least 60 percent of their games in each of those seasons.

Drawing comparisons between the two groups at an introductory press conference for Leonard and George on Wednesday, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said the following:

"It's a different energy. [In 2013], I joined a group. And that group had—had some success, and also some baggage.

"This group is new. This is our creation. I feel like that college coach, when you first get the job and you take all the recruits that are there and try to win with them. And then, you get your recruits. That's how I feel. This is our team. ... And we feel really good about it."

The Clips were consistent playoff contenders during the Lob City days when Chris Paul was tossing alley-oop passes to Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan on a regular basis. That team couldn't get over the Western Conference Semifinal hump, but it was the only group in franchise history to find consistent yearly success.

Rivers, who became the Lob City Clips' coach a few years into that era, also made the following remarks.

"I never felt like I could get that group [the Lob City group] to understand that this was their time. The urgency of it," Rivers said. "When we beat Golden State [in the 2013-14 playoffs], that following year, Golden State decided, this was their time. I don't think we decided that. We just showed up and wanted to try to win. But that's not enough."

Although the Lob City Clips didn't win a championship, they were one of the league's most exciting teams in the early-to-mid 2010s, with Griffin and Jordan skying above their opponents for ferocious slams on a nightly basis.

The Leonard- and George-led Clippers probably won't make nearly as many highlight reels, but the personnel is there for the team's first title in franchise history.

Leonard has a championship pedigree, having led the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 NBA title over the back-to-back defending champion Golden State Warriors. He also won the 2013-14 NBA title with the San Antonio Spurs. The eight-year veteran won the NBA Finals MVP both seasons.

George hasn't made an NBA Finals, but he impressively led the Indiana Pacers to back-to-back Eastern Conference championship appearances, where they lost to LeBron James' and Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat twice before they won the titles themselves.

The Clippers were a largely moribund franchise for decades before the Lob City teams. Although they didn't win a title, the Paul-Griffin-Jordan trio significantly changed the team's losing culture. Under a new era with Leonard and George, the Clippers have their best chance to finish the job and win it all.