Norman Powell’s All Star Case The Unexpected Hero of the Clippers’ Season

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BJ Mathews is a credential NBA creator covering the LA Clippers for thePeachBasket.net. He is also a host of the Pull Up! Basketball Podcast. In this article he makes a compelling All Star case for Norman Powell!

It is safe to say, the Los Angeles Clippers has exceeded everyone’s expectations at this point of the regular season. For a few reasons, first everything that happened in the 2024 offseason with the departure of 9-time all-star Paul George signing with the Philadelphia 76ers and hall of famer Russell Westbrook that signed with the Denver Nuggets. Followed by the addition of fresh players, Derrick Jones Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., Kris Dunn, and Mo Bamba.  An to top it all off, their superstar Kawhi Leonard only playing 8 of the team’s first 46 games.

Through it all, the Clippers hold a 26-20 record as the sixth seed in a competitive western conference. The play of their explosive guard Norman Powell is a big reason for that. That is not a disrespect to anyone else. James Harden has been orchestrating the offense, Ivica Zubac’s dominant interior play, Jeff Van Gundy getting the team to buy in on the defensive end which is 2nd in the NBA, and once again Ty Lue coaching a team that is having success being shorthanded.

Norman Powell: Bold Predictions

It has been a team effort, but Powell from media day spoke this into existence, where not only how he sees himself, but how he seen the team coming into the 2024-25 regular season.

When the talk around the campfire was the Clippers were predicted to drop all the way out of the play in the west Powell called that statement “crazy.” He followed that up with, his goal was to be a “starter” this year after being known as a sixth man the majority of his 10-year career. Finally, how can we forget the most famous line? “Addition by subtraction,” which highlighted the opportunities not only for himself, but his teammates will get to display themselves after the departure of George. Surely, there was no way the Clippers were going to able to replace a 22-23 ppg scorer who had 47.1%/41.3%/90.7% shooting splits last regular season. That is until, “Stormin Norman” came to the rescue.

Breaking Down the Numbers

Now while, Powell is not the all-around player PG is nor has the resume. Offensively, he has been averaging 23.9 ppg off 49.6% from the field, 43.4% from the 3, and 84.1% from the free throw line. Those numbers right there I would have to say, are ELITE scoring numbers. He has a higher ppg than popular west all-star caliber guards Steph Curry (22.3 ppg) and Ja Morant (20.3 ppg).  Better efficiency from the field and 3-point line than other western conference star guards Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, De’Aaron Fox, Kyrie Irving, and Jamal Murray.

While also, the Clippers having a better record than the Timberwolves, Suns, Mavericks, and Kings. The only guard in the west we can say that really has the upper hand over Norm individually and team wise is Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous Alexander with 32.1 ppg 52.8% from the field, 35.1% from the 3, and 90.6% from the line with OKC the #1 seed in the western conference. So, if you want to say SGA you got me there everyone else including Steph Curry who deservedly so got in based off primarily the fan vote, we must have a real discussion. First, let us ask the real question.

The Rise of Norman Powell

How did a player like Powell who everyone thought more of as a bench player bump his scoring average up from 13.9 ppg to 23.9 ppg in one season? Well, I asked him, that question following a victory against the Portland Trail Blazers on December 3, 2024, and this is what he had to say.

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Now that win, he had a 30-point game performance. He still currently leads the Clippers in scoring and has led the team in scoring 22 out of the 46 games. Came through for them in a lot of close competitive games. Not bad for a player who just a year ago was coming off the bench as a 6th man. However, this does not surprise me Norm is goal driven coming on to the Clippers three years ago in at the trade deadline February 2022. He set the goal for himself that he wanted to be an all-star. Well, you fast forward three years later here we are. Norm lives by the motto, “UTG” -which stands for “Understand the Grind.”

All Star Aspirations

While, he has the numbers to be in the conversation, and he has been as efficient and effective with his individual play mixed in with team wins and the circumstances the Clippers have been much of the season playing without their best player Leonard. This is still a business, Leonard I think had the best quote after their last home game against the Milwaukee Bucks where Powell (33 points) and Harden (41 points) took over the game in the second half, says he would love to see both of them represent the all-star team, but it won’t be easy.

They’ve been playing great all year,” Kawhi Leonard added. “There’s a lot of politics in it. I am not sure if they are going to give us two players. Hopefully, they do. They have been playing at a prominent level.

The starters have been announced by the NBA the backcourt will include S. Curry and S. Gilgeous Alexander. So that leaves two-three more spots open for reserves which now lies in the NBA head coaches hands who votes for the reserves. Tomorrow, January 30th we will hear the names of the reserves called for the 2025 all-star game, but no matter what the outcome is the NBA world has been put on notice who Norman Powell is.

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