The Clippers' Norman Powell was unhappy with the overlooked bench of the year, had a big temper, but had a good point.
Has Norman Powell been overlooked?
Earlier this week, the NBA announced shortlists for several awards, including Bench of the Year, and to the surprise of many, Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell was not one of the three candidates.
Instead, the three candidates selected were Naz Reid of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Malik Monk of the Sacramento Kings and Bobby Portis of the Milwaukee Bucks.
To be honest, Powell is much more famous than the above three, so it's no wonder that Powell is angry.
Although Powell's stats are not as good as those three candidates, he has provided the Clippers with a great deal of depth and variety this season, putting them fourth in the Western Conference this season and currently leading them in their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks.
Recently, Powell was asked if he felt snubbed by the recognition of the award and expressed his true feelings about the decision.
"To be honest, I think it's unfair... Playing with four Hall of Famers with limited opportunities... I think it's terrible... But at the end of the day, our main goal is to win the championship," Powell said on social media platform X, as reported by Sports News' Lawn Murray.
One thing to say, if Powell changes teams, he can be an All-Star.
This season, Powell averaged 13.9 points per game while shooting over 48 percent from the field and 43 percent from three-point range, and has been efficient throughout the season, making it difficult for defenders to cope with and filling in any voids left by the team's stars — Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Paul George.
In addition, it was Westbrook who stole Powell's data from the Clippers, otherwise Powell's data would definitely be better, and he would have become the sixth man.
It's a pity that Powell's fame is not as big as Wei Shao, so let's accept fate.
Fans may remember a year ago, when George and Leonard were absent in the first round of the Clippers' first-round series against the Suns, Powell shone in Game 3 and almost single-handedly brought the team to the brink of victory, despite being understaffed at the time.
How far can the Clippers go?
Curiously, despite having home-court advantage, the Clippers are one of the two teams in this year's playoffs with declining Las Vegas betting odds for the first-round series.
In G1, despite the absence of Leonard, Los Angeles quickly moved away from that notion and defeated the Mavericks.
Instead, James Harden had one of the best playoff games of his career, while Paul George excelled late in the game, stopping a possible Dallas counterattack and winning the game and the 1-0 series.
Of course, any chance that the Clippers have the strength to compete for a championship will still depend on Leonard's fitness, although it should be noted that the winner of this series will likely have a relatively favorable opponent in the second round, as neither the Oklahoma City Thunder nor the New Orleans Pelicans have shown particularly convincing strength in the first round.
Unfortunately for the Clippers, the NBA only gave them a day off between Game 1 and Game 2 of the Mavericks series, which means Leonard has a little less time to recover and possibly return, although there will be a two-day gap between Game 2 and Game 3, which is scheduled to start in Dallas on Friday night local time.
Expect Powell to bring the emotions of the lost sixth man to the game, blow up the opponents, and make those who ignore you regret it.