Basketball

“Kawhi Leonard, Rajon Rondo and his team better show up in the playoffs!”: Stephen A Smith piles pressure on the Clippers after their deadline day trade

Tonoy Sengupta
|PublishedMar 28, 2021

"Kawhi Leonard, Rajon Rondo and his team better show up in the playoffs!": Stephen A Smith piles pressure on the Clippers after their deadline day trade

Stephen A. Smith believes that the LA Clippers have some real pressure to win after their deadline day acquisition of Rajon Rondo.

The LA Clippers have looked incredible this year. The team bounced back massively from the disappointments of last season, and seemingly have a hunger that was never there before. And recently, the team only further bolstered its roster through the acquisition of Rajon Rondo.

There have long been reports that Kawhi Leonard had been demanding there be a true point guard on the team. And now that he has one of the best at the position, all eyes are on them.

Will their season be deemed a failure if they can’t win the West? Stephen A. Smith definitely thinks so.

Also Read: Stephen A Smith gives his honest reactions to LaMarcus Aldridge joining the Brooklyn Nets

Stephen A. Smith issues a warning to the LA Clippers after Rajon Rondo trade

Stephen A. Smith has long been famous for his hot takes, and severe passion while talking about sports. And when the ESPN analyst sat down to talk about the LA Clippers, he was more passionate than fans have seen him in a while and said this.

“Kawhi (Leonard) and the rest of the Clippers, they better show up in the playoffs, now! Make no mistake about it. There simply can not be a repeat of last year, when they flamed out early against Denver. When they failed to give us the matchup with the Lakers!”

Yep, Stephen A. Smith still hasn’t forgiven the LA Clippers for their disappointing playoff run last year. But he is right about one thing. The franchise has absolutely no excuses left.

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George now have a championship-level point guard in Rajon Rondo. And if the Clippers still can’t even get to the Conference finals, the team will be facing some serious backlash.

It’s not like they aren’t already used to the banter, given their meltdown of epic proportions last year. But to have this 2 years in a row with few draft picks left in their kitty is practically suicidal. The likes of Kawhi and PG might be bullied into joining other teams.

Also Read: Daryl Morey explains why the Sixers exited the sweepstakes for Lowry

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.