Kuzma on Beverley: Clippers didn’t want to be in NBA bubble in 2020

In the summer of 2019, Anthony Davis joined LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers, while Paul George and Kawhi Leonard went to the Los Angeles Clippers. It led many to expect a showdown between the two teams in the Western Conference Finals the following spring.

Once the novel coronavirus pandemic hit critical mass and the NBA was forced to complete the season in the Walt Disney World Resort bubble, the Clippers mysteriously blew a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals to the Denver Nuggets, depriving fans of that showdown.

George, Leonard and crew had been the overwhelming favorites to win the world championship at the beginning of the season, making that collapse all the more shocking.

Patrick Beverley, who was a member of that Clippers team, recently said that it would’ve won it all had the pandemic never happened.