It was a Friday after the Clippers had just come off a back-to-back affair and were staring at five games in seven days starting this week when Norman Powell decided it was the perfect time for his body wellness.
Powell’s motto during his basketball career has been to grind. He even opened a clothing line called “Understand The Grind.” It’s what Powell has always subscribed to for as long as he can remember and it’s what has pushed him to new heights in a 10-year career that has been defined by his dedication to his craft.
So on this off day, Powell got a massage in preparation for the grind to come.
“Taking care of the body between games and making sure that you got the proper recovery so you can go out there and perform the way you want to perform,” Powell said. “It’s all part of the process.”
The significant time Powell has put forth to reach a higher level has led to his name being talked about as a possible All-Star participant next month in San Francisco.
He’s among the NBA’s top 20 scorers, averaging a career-best 23.7 points per game. He’s one of the league’s premier three-point shooters, making 45.2% of them to rank sixth.
After the third round of voting was released last week, Powell was 10th for Western Conference guards.
To receive the first selection of his career, Powell will most likely have to be voted on the team by the 30 NBA coaches who choose the reserves.
“It was always an individual goal,” Powell said as he and the Clippers prepared to host the Lakers on Sunday in their own arena, the Intuit Dome, for the first time. “It was, ‘I want to be an All-Star. I want to be on that stage. I want to be in the same position that I saw my favorite players being in growing up.’
“And honestly it’s surreal. … It’s been 10 years and I kind of take it as a little shot or a little chip on my shoulder when everybody is talking about, ‘Oh, this is his 10th year in the league and this and that.’ It just adds to the beauty of being mentioned now as an All-Star, this being my 10th year.”
The Understand The Grind clothing line encapsulates Powell’s ideals.
It is a belief the 31-year-old clings to every day, a guide he uses after spending four years at UCLA and getting drafted in the second round in 2015.
“Understand The Grind is all about understanding the process of what it takes, and, well, specifically talking about me and my journey and my process to be where I want to be,” he said. “Understanding the choices and the decisions that come with it along the journey. Especially being a professional athlete, there’s a lot of obstacles you have to go through that you can either let those obstacles define you or you can figure out how to get around, through or over the obstacles to continue on the path of where you want to be. Understand the Grind is all about a mental mindset and approach to my daily focus on my career.”
His mom, Sharon Powell, who raised Norman and older sisters Joniece and Margaret, and uncle Raymond Edwards, were his role models.
Clippers guard Norman Powell celebrates with teammate Derrick Jones Jr. after making a three-point shot against Portland last month at Intuit Dome.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Sharon and Edwards instilled the principles Norman uses today.
“Just watching them and them talking to me while I was growing up, giving me advice about how to navigate life, how to go after your own dreams and not let anybody stop you and always being able to make a way,” Powell said. “I learned that both from my mom and my uncle.”
When the Clippers held their media day in September, Powell used a phrase that was perceived as a shot at former teammates Paul George, who signed with the 76ers, and Russell Westbrook, who was traded to the Jazz before he wound up in Denver.
Powell said his opportunity this season was “addition by subtraction.” Simply, Powell said, it was him being able to step into a void and become a starter because George and Westbrook had moved on. It was nothing against two players he admired.
“I think people kind of put me in a box and probably thought I was kind of shooting too high,” Powell said. “But when PG and Russ left, I saw the opportunity and that’s what I meant by it. It wasn’t a shot against them, or at PG or trying to dig. It was I saw an opportunity to step into the role that I’ve always wanted in my career and I saw addition by subtraction because I felt like I knew what I could bring to the table.”
The 6-foot-4 Powell is the leading scorer for the Clippers.
This is after he averaged 13.9 points per game last season coming off the bench.
“It’s the work he puts in,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of Powell. “He’s always wanted to be a starter, but you’re playing behind PG and Kawhi [Leonard], it’s hard. But that never stopped him from working and grinding. I’m glad he did because that’s where he’s at now. Now, everybody gets to see the work he puts in and gets a chance to see what it has done for him in his career.”
The Clippers are 23-17 and surprisingly the current fifth seed in the uber-competitive Western Conference.
Leonard, the Clippers’ best player, missed the first 34 games this season because of right knee inflammation and has played in just four games this season.
But the play of Powell is a big reason why the Clippers are in this position, Lue said, and it’s a testament to Powell’s hard work and his grind.
“To do what he’s doing without your best player for the whole year, that just says a lot,” Lue said. “Take away anybody’s best player on any team and see what they are going to do. Our best player has missed, what, 37-38 games and we are fighting for fifth in the West. It says a lot about what Norm and James [Harden] have done. So, yeah, Norm is a grinder and I’m glad everybody gets to see that now.”