Since making their bombshell Kawhi Leonard and Paul George acquisitions in 2019, the Los Angeles Clippers have hoped to, finally, after years of mismanagement, win a championship. The Clippers roster, especially during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, looked primed to win a title given its wing depth, shooting, and defensive versatility. However, fast forward to the beginning of the 2023-24 season, and not only do the Clippers remain ringless, they're also not in the conversation of true title contending teams.

Given how incredible the Clippers can be with Leonard and George healthy, there's a possibility that pundits are underrating them heading into the new campaign. But George doesn't think so. In fact, the 33-year old two-way wing believes that they're evaluated properly knowing what they've achieved thus far: nothing.

“I can't really say we're overlooked. We haven't done nothing yet, so we're not the team to beat. We're not the best team out there and we got a lot to prove,” George said, per ClutchPoints Clippers beat reporter Tomer Azarly. “We haven't answered all the questions we need to answer. For us, we just to go out there and prove it now.”

Even the most diehard Clippers fan will agree with Paul George here. Sure, George and Kawhi Leonard's presences have both brought a sense of excitement fans of the team haven't known in the franchise's many years of existence. But they've also brought immense disappointment in varyingly heartbreaking ways.

In 2020, the Clippers, pegged by many as the favorites to win it all, stunk it up in Round 2 against the Denver Nuggets, blowing a 3-1 lead and spawning a lifetime of memes. The next year, the Clippers looked like they were going to go all the way given how well they've played against the Utah Jazz in Round 2, only for Leonard to suffer a season-ending injury that dashed all their title hopes for that season and the next.

And then in 2023, Clippers fans' frustrations reached a boiling point when Paul George missed the playoffs due to a freak knee injury and Kawhi Leonard tore his meniscus after Game 2 against the Phoenix Suns.

Simply put, the 2023-24 season figures to be a big one for the Clippers, and perhaps, being away from the spotlight ends up helping them out in the long run.