With the official start of the NBA preseason, it also announced the arrival of the NBA 24-25 season, as the "offseason champion" of the past few seasons, the Clippers' operation this summer was disappointing, letting go of George, one of the Big Three, and failing to introduce stars of the same level.
The Clippers officially opened their new gym
Although the Clippers did not continue to make big reinforcements in the offseason due to the second-tier luxury tax line, Ballmer, the owner of the team who is the richest man in the NBA, was not stingy and spent $2 billion to build a new arena for the team, and the Clippers officially ushered in the first joint practice in this new arena.
The new arena is called "Intuit Dome" and has a total of five basketball courts, including the team's training ground and infrastructure.
Construction began in September '21, costing more than $2 billion and the main arena can accommodate 18,000 people, and with the completion of this arena, the Clippers finally bid farewell to the embarrassing history of sharing the arena with the Lakers.
Previously, when the Clippers and Lakers shared the arena, if the two teams played on the same day, the Clippers could only be scheduled during the day, which seriously affected the status of the players, and they also had to go through a long road trip in the winter to make way for the Grammys.
While $2 billion may seem huge, it's a drop in the bucket for Ballmer, who is worth an exaggerated $125 billion, according to Forbes' latest list of the richest people.
Not only is he ranked first in the NBA, but also the eleventh richest man in the world, and since the purchase of the Clippers, the team's market value has increased by more than $2 billion.
Harden steals the spotlight with 9 of 9 muscles
Despite the owner's deep pockets, the team is still in poor shape for the new season based on the actual roster and situation of the Clippers, and Harden is almost the only player who has the potential to help the team through the tough period.
The good news is that Harden is in very good shape, shooting 9 of 9 three-pointers in training, and at the same time, the training photos posted are eye-catching.
Harden has been plagued by injuries over the past few seasons since leaving the Rockets to pursue a championship, which has also caused him to lose his shape a bit, but this season Harden has clearly made a big lap.
In the first game of the preseason, Harden also walked a lot briskly, looked very good physically, and made three points accurately.
In addition to training on his own, Harden is also communicating with new signing Kai Jones, seemingly coaching him on how to connect with him.
Tyronn Lue then joined the discussion, with Harden very interestingly pretending to frown before throwing the ball high and spun it around.
After training, he posted a photo of Curry with affectionate text
After Harden finished training, he posted a photo of himself and Curry on social media and a number of training photos.
Harden also affectionately captioned: "If you don't want to fight alongside me, then I'd rather go it alone." ”
As the '09 duo, Harden and Curry are not only rivals on the court, but also close friends off the court, and in the preseason Warriors vs. Clippers game, the two hugged and whispered for a long time after the game.
Little Card grinned
In addition to Harden, when the card will return and how he will be in shape after returning will also be key to determining the fate of this Clippers team.
Therefore, after the training, the Clippers also posted a photo of Xiaoka training with Harden and other teammates, during which Xiaoka grinned and looked very happy.