"Kobe Sanders found out just before gametime that he'd starting for the LA Clippers against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. With James Harden a late scratch because of shoulder stiffness, it would be up to Sanders and fellow guard Kris Dunn to contain Curry. It wasn't his first start of the season, but he made it his best one yet. Sanders scored a career-high 20 points and had seven rebounds (all defensive) in 36 minutes of a 103-102 victory Monday night."
"Sanders was a second-round pick out of Nevada last year by the New York Knicks, who traded him to the Clippers. He spent four years at Cal Poly, where he was a 1,000-point scorer, before transferring to Nevada and earning All-Mountain West honors while playing a fifth year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Although I'm a rook, I've played a lot of basketball in my life," said Sanders, who is from Spring Valley, California, an unincorporated town east of San Diego. "Just playing basketball for such a long time, you pick up IQ, you pick up just little things here and there.""
"And no, he isn't named after the late Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant. Sanders' parents named him for Kobe Japanese Steak House near Palm Springs, California, their favorite getaway spot. Sanders knew he was going to play a lot of minutes with Harden out, so he wasn't nervous about getting yanked if he made a mistake. "I think I felt that freedom most of the season," he said. "They instill a lot of confidence in me, telling me to be aggressive, telling me to keep going." Leonard is among those in Sanders' ear. "I always tell him to keep being aggressive in the game," Leonard told Snoop Dogg. "That's your time to get better ri"
Kobe Sanders started unexpectedly for the LA Clippers after James Harden was a late scratch and scored a career-high 20 points with seven defensive rebounds in a 103-102 win. Sanders was a recent second-round pick who played four years at Cal Poly before transferring to Nevada and earning All-Mountain West honors during a fifth COVID-extended season. Sanders emphasized that long-term basketball experience built his game IQ and confidence. Clippers teammates, including Kawhi Leonard, encouraged Sanders to remain aggressive, and Sanders said the coaching staff and roster granted him the freedom to play assertively.
Read at ESPN.com
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