For the past four years, the Los Angeles Clippers have placed an inordinate amount of emphasis on getting to the postseason in tip-top shape. As a result, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have tended to miss a lot of time due to load management. But the 2023 playoffs proved to be a hard lesson for Tyronn Lue and company. Nothing is guaranteed in the NBA even if they take the utmost precaution. Leonard played in just two postseason games due to a torn meniscus, while George missed the postseason entirely after a freak collision with Luguentz Dort.

Now, entering the 2023-24 season, Lue appears to be raring to apply the lessons they've learned over the past few years, with the Clippers now treating the regular season less as a cumbersome path to the playoffs and more as an opportunity to build winning habits in preparation for winning a championship.

“When you have championship aspirations, it's always preparing for the long haul. […][But], our approach this year for me is, ‘let's do everything we can in the regular season and let's let the playoffs take care of itself…’ Let's get to the playoffs being in the best shape we can be in and we'll take it from there,” Lue said, per ClutchPoints Clippers beat reporter Tomer Azarly.

This will be music to Clippers fans' ears, especially as they watched their team limp into the postseason after a topsy-turvy regular season campaign. Touted as one of the best teams in the league entering the year, the Clippers had to claw their way into the playoffs, finishing with a middling 44-38 record.

This may have ended up being more taxing for the Clippers in the long run. The team had to rely on Kawhi Leonard heavily with Paul George out, and in high stakes games no less, which may have contributed to the additional toll The Klaw had to endure to end the year.

In the NBA, it's all about learning from one's mistakes. The hope now for Tyronn Lue and the Clippers is that they apply those learnings in time before their championship window shuts for good.