LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard says execution is the biggest factor in winning an NBA cha
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00:00A lot goes into winning an NBA title. The players and coaches have to be great, of course.
00:05The front office has to make near-perfect decisions for multiple years leading to a potential postseason run.
00:10There needs to be a little bit of luck along the way as well.
00:12Ultimately, though, as LA Clippers star, Paul Wildhunter, puts it, it comes down to execution.
00:17Quote, I knew we had a pretty deep squad, Wildhunter told reporters Wednesday morning.
00:21I knew how talented we could be. It's about executing now.
00:25At 44-20, the Clippers have done a solid job of executing so far, all things considered.
00:29Even with key pieces in Leonard, Patrick Beverly, and Paul George, this combined 51 games on the year,
00:35LA has the second-best record in the Western Conference and sits just 5.5 games with Los Angeles Lakers in the standings.
00:41That said, Leonard feels this is essentially the beginning of a new season rather than a continuation of one,
00:46which calls into question just how much that 44-20 record really matters at this point.
00:51Same quote. Basically, it's a new season, pretty much.
00:55After you win or lose in the playoffs, probably have about three months or so to get back to training camp,
00:59and then go through the same process again.
01:01Of course, LA's record to 64 games, along with the eight seeding games to begin on Thursday,
01:06will determine who they face off with in the postseason.
01:08But besides that, almost nothing from the earlier part of the season applies here.
01:12One could argue that executing a game plan is more important now than ever before, given the circumstances.
01:18Without fans, there's no home-court advantage. Without home-court advantage, playoff seeding takes on less importance.
01:23There's so much less happening in the NBA bubble that interferes with how a team performs in the postseason than usual.
01:29With the playoffs less than a month off, it won't be long before we see how the Clippers carry themselves
01:33and what should be their most favorable run to the NBA title to date.