Paul George contradicts himself by saying it wasn't 'championship or bust' for the Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers are out from the NBA playoffs after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets, and it’s absolutely right to worry about their future after just one year together.

After a rough postseason, Paul George did address the future by talking about the past year.

“I think internally, we’ve always felt this was not a championship or bust year for us,” he told reporters. “We can only get better the longer we stay together.”

It’s strange to hear an athlete talk about NOT having championship expectations, particularly in this situation where George and Kawhi Leonard have short contracts and were on a team that mortgaged its future to contend now.

But a lot of NBA fans are pointing out that, at least according to George himself earlier this year, that maybe the team didn’t talk about it being a long-term plan to win a title.

He told Kevin Hart on a Cold as Balls episode in June that there wasn’t any “hey this is going to take a year to get used to one another” conversation:

Whatever the case is, the Clippers do need another year to jell, but given their stars’ contract situation, the clock is ticking.