Clippers coach Tyronn Lue blasts his 'soft' stars

Not so long ago, the Los Angeles Clippers were the best and hottest team in the entire NBA. Fast forward to today, and they can’t seem to string two games together.

Russell Westbrook’s absence was a big blow to their second unit, and they couldn’t right the ship in his return, either. They’ve now lost four of their last six, with their only two wins coming against the 19-53 Portland Trail Blazers.

Their late-game woes were on full display again on Monday night. The Indiana Pacers, which were on the second night of a back-to-back, ran them off the court in the fourth quarter. Following the loss, coach Tyronn Lue didn’t mince his words.

Tyronn Lue Says The Clippers Are ‘Soft’

“Right now do we have an identity? I think, yeah. We’re soft,” Lue said. “That can be an identity if you want to call it that. We got to be tougher, mentally and physically. But we do have an identity. When we were 26-5, we had a great identity. You can’t pick and choose when you want to lead. You can’t pick and choose when you want to have an identity. You can’t pick and choose when you want to do things the right way. And so just do the right things every night and everything else will fall in order. Guess we do have an identity, we got to go back to that.”

Those comments are in response to James Harden and Paul George claiming that the team doesn’t have an identity. Still, the coach doesn’t feel like he has to tell them what to do or how to respond to this tough stretch:

“They’re grown men,” said Lue. “They understand; it’s not like we’re playing with second or third-year players. I’m never the type of guy who wants to show a player up or show them that they’re making a mistake. I’d rather not do that. That’s a story for you guys. They understand what the f—. They understand what they’re supposed to be doing. We just gotta do better all around the board.”

The Clippers currently have the fourth-best record in the Western Conference, and they should still be a huge threat come playoff time. However, they chose the absolute worst time to get into a slump.