INGLEWOOD — With 10 seconds left in Monday night’s game and the Clippers clinging to a one-point lead, rookie Kobe Sanders prepared to make a move to the basket.
What did he have cooked up before Coach Tyronn Lue called a timeout?
“I had a bucket,” Sanders said without hesitation.
Sanders’ confidence is a bit bold but without swagger. He unapologetically says he knows how to play basketball, isn’t afraid to breathe down the necks of Steph Curry or Luka Doncic and is eager to establish himself as a guard who belongs on basketball’s biggest stage.
And the sooner, the better.
Sanders, the 50th pick in last year’s NBA draft, signed a two-way contract with the Clippers and immediately made an impression on the coaching staff and teammates with his skill set during summer league play.
“Just playing basketball for such a long time, you pick up IQ, you pick up just little things here and there,” said Sanders, who spent four years at Cal Poly, where he was a 1,000-point scorer, before transferring to Nevada and earning All-Mountain West Conference honors while playing a fifth year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Just having teammates and coaches around you that know your game, that can instill confidence in you and then keep pushing you to get better every day. It just helps a lot.”
And it was a combination of his belief in himself and a shortage of available guards that led to his first NBA start in Monday’s 103-102 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Hall of Famer James Harden was ruled out because of shoulder soreness and Bogdan Bogdanovic is dealing with a hamstring issue. Bradley Beal (hip) is out for the season and Chris Paul was dismissed a month ago.
The next man up was Sanders. The 23-year-old guard scored a career-high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting and added seven rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes, impressing his teammates and guest TV commentator Snoop Dogg.
During a postgame interview, Kawhi Leonard shared with Snoop the advice he offered Sanders, who like Leonard, has ties to San Diego. Sanders grew up in Spring Valley, not far from San Diego State where Leonard played college ball.
“I always tell him to keep being aggressive in the game,” Leonard told Snoop. “That’s your time to get better right there so don’t shy away from it, just keep executing.”
Leonard also said that Sanders’ breakout performance is a positive sign about his future, stressing that confidence is as important as talent on the NBA level.
“I just think the biggest thing is the confidence instilled from my teammates,” Sanders said. “I keep harping on it, but that’s the biggest thing they keep telling me: to keep going, keep going. And I’m able to get more comfortable playing my game.”
Sanders is the first rookie in the Lue era to start a game, play at least 35 minutes and score 20 points. The only rookies who posted similar numbers for the Clippers in the Doc Rivers era were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Amir Coffey.
“I knew he was a good player, but just his poise, his ability to understand what we’re doing defensively and offensively and just get more and more confident is huge,” said Lue, whose team has won seven of its past eight games to improve to 13-22.
Sanders appreciates the kudos, but knows he has a lot to learn.
“I have this small little knowledge that the NBA is consistency and opportunity, and I’m blessed with the opportunity and now I’m just trying to stay consistent,” said Sanders, who has averaged 6.6 points in limited minutes over 27 games.
Still, forward John Collins called Sanders’ performance big time.
“He’s had a rough intro to the league, playing, not playing minutes and whatever. So having this start tonight I know probably shocked him a little bit, but he did exactly what we all expected him to do, know what he could do, and we are proud of him,” Collins said.
Veteran Nicolas Batum also was impressed by the way Sanders stepped up considering the Clippers’ depleted roster. He said he, and others, told the young player to just play his game.
“And he did, he had a great game. He wasn’t scared. I mean, he had a great guy to guard, Steph, and he wasn’t scared to go at him, too,” Batum said. “He did a great job all game.
CLIPPERS AT KNICKS
When: Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. PT
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
TV/Radio: FDSN SoCal, 570 AM, 1330 AM