Doc Rivers often talks about how Chicago is the Mecca of NBA basketball, his opinion naturally informed by the fact that he grew up there. He brings it up every time he talks about Patrick Beverley, in particular, and dismisses outright the thought of any other city holding a candle to Chicago.
The strange thing about Rivers’ insistence on proclaiming Chicago to be the basketball capital is that there is compelling evidence on his team of a superior alternative, a city that he happens to live in. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard both grew up in the outskirts of Los Angeles and are part of a talented generation of L.