2-time NBA loser San Diego perfect host for 3 teams’ camps

SAN DIEGO – Ty Lue was seven when the San Diego Clippers packed up their basketballs and uniforms and moved the 120 miles up the freeway to Los Angeles after the 1983-84 season, turning into the second NBA crew to desert “America’s Best Metropolis” in 13 years.

Even at 44, the Los Angeles Clippers’ second-year coach is manner too younger to keep in mind that struggling crew, which featured oft-injured San Diego native Invoice Walton in addition to Norm Nixon and Terry Cummings.

However Lue is aware of sufficient concerning the vacationer and Navy city to have his Clippers maintain coaching camp in San Diego this week.

The Brooklyn Nets and Denver Nuggets had the identical thought. The three groups are holding camp in cozy gyms at San Diego’s three largest universities.

For Lue, the explanation for the transfer is easy: “I needed to come back right here,” he stated with amusing.

There’s one other attraction for the three groups, which all had championship hopes derailed by accidents final 12 months, to descend on San Diego.

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“Simply to get away, give attention to hoops, construct crew camaraderie, get guys away from their households and simply lock into the crew for 5 days,” Lue stated. “I believed it might be good for us. It has been good. … Simply the bond, simply making an attempt to study extra about one another.”

There are also plans for golf and a few fishing for the Clippers, who reached the Western Convention finals for the primary time earlier than dropping in six video games to the Phoenix Suns.

They’re holding coaching camp on the follow health club at San Diego State, the place Kawhi Leonard starred for 2 seasons earlier than leaping to the NBA. Leonard is rehabbing after having surgical procedure on his proper knee a month in the past. {A partially} torn proper ACL through the playoffs saved him out of the convention finals.

All these a long time later, it seems there may be some love between the Clippers and San Diego.

Though Leonard isn’t on the courtroom, the Clippers are reminded of SDSU’s most-famous participant by the massive Klaw brand — primarily based on one in every of Leonard’s massive arms — on one wall on the JAM middle. Leonard typically works on the market throughout summers when he’s wholesome.

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In early 2020, Clippers proprietor Steve Ballmer, then-coach Doc Rivers and your entire crew flew all the way down to San Diego to attend the halftime ceremony when SDSU retired Leonard’s No. 15 at Viejas Area.

Earlier this month, whereas breaking floor on his crew’s new $1.8 billion enviornment in Inglewood, Ballmer — who purchased the crew in 2014 — stated Viejas Area was the “most enjoyable health club” he’s ever been in and that it was “inspirational” for his crew’s new 18,000-seat enviornment.

Seven miles throughout Mission Valley, Steve Nash’s Nets are working towards on the College of San Diego’s 5,100-seat Jenny Craig Pavilion, nicknamed “The Slim Health club.”

Some 13 miles to the north, reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets are coaching at UC San Diego. The Nuggets have held camp at SDSU earlier than. The crew stated UCSD’s 5,000-seat RIMAC Area presents an even bigger house to accommodate the expanded camp roster than its follow website again in Denver.

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It’s unclear if the groups will cross paths in San Diego, however the Clippers will host the Nuggets on Monday evening in an exhibition recreation at Staples Middle. The Nuggets — swept out of the second spherical by Phoenix — then head to San Francisco to play the Warriors on Wednesday evening. The Nets will play the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday afternoon at Staples Middle earlier than heading house.

NBA groups have held camp earlier than in San Diego — which misplaced the Rockets to Houston in 1971 — nevertheless it’s believed that is the primary time three groups have skilled right here.

Nash believes billionaire proprietor Joe Tsai, who has a house in La Jolla and in addition owns the San Diego Seals lacrosse crew, had one thing to do with the Nets switching coasts for camp.

The Nets arrived to overcast skies.

“I hoped for a bit of extra solar, however we’ll make do,” Nash quipped. ”It’s clearly an exquisite a part of the world. It’s nice for us to be out of our health club for per week and attempt to freshen issues up and revel in and bond. Clearly we need to do the issues on the courtroom that make us come out of this week feeling like we laid the foundations, but additionally to have the ability to come away from one thing particular like this and bond is vital as effectively.”

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The Nets misplaced within the second spherical of the playoffs to eventual NBA champion Milwaukee.

James Harden missed all however 43 seconds of Video games 1-4 with a hamstring harm, and Kyrie Irving sat out the ultimate three video games with a sprained proper ankle.

The Nets have been anticipated to go to Tsai at his La Jolla house. After their first follow, they acquired to play golf.

“I’m about to go to Torrey Pines, get a couple of swings in, hope I can hit straight, not lose any balls,” Nets guard Bruce Brown stated.

Additionally on the itinerary: video video games.

“We get to sit back one another, play some video video games, I’ll beat anyone in that, in some FIFA,” Brown stated. “I already beat Sekou (Doumbouya) in FIFA, so anyone need to problem me, I’m prepared.”

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Extra AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports