Norman Powell of the Clippers understands the situation

INGLEWOOD – A toast! To Norman Powell.

For reminding us all that hard work can pay off. For helping us understand what’s possible when you keep grinding.

Cheers to you, Norm, and thank you for throwing your own surprise party – because he wasn’t the one who got the surprise, this “early”, “best” and “biggest surprise” (according to ESPN, ClutchPoints and LAFB). Network).

It’s the rest of us.

Powell, 31, expected it. I’ve been waiting 10 NBA seasons to inherit a starring role. No, longer. He’s been waiting since he played four seasons at UCLA. No longer. Since his days as an overlooked graduate of Lincoln High School in southeast San Diego.

Long. No, a “very long” time — as Powell put it Monday night after another demanding and unsurprising goal exchange at the Intuit Dome.

He contributed 29 points in 28 minutes to the Clippers’ 37-point win over the hapless Utah Jazz, with contributions coming on 12-for-16 shooting, including 5-for-7 from 3-point range. They came with perfect 10 jumpers that caused no noticeable impact and deft movement at the rim, all excellent complements to James Harden’s 41 points.

It was everything you would expect from a star duo. Harden and Powell. We might have to get used to it, but Powell? “Honestly, it feels normal.”

Harden, of course, is one of those familiar names the Clippers had in the quadruple last season. The Beard, the Klaw, PG-13, Russell Westbrook – heavyweights with real Hall of Fame members.

Previously, Powell — the 6-foot-2 guard with a 6-foot wingspan and a battle scar between his eyes, a memento from Jalen Duren’s sharp elbow in February — was the understudy.

A talented member of the ensemble who could be counted on to step in when one of the headliners couldn’t make it, but who wasn’t otherwise responsible for the heavy lifting. He finished fourth in the Sixth Man of the Year voting each of the last two seasons. As a professional, he accepted this for the good of the team. And because he believed that his big break would come one day.

He averaged only about 23 minutes per game over the course of his career, and over 30 per game only during his two seasons in Portland – and this year was also the first time he was allowed more than 14 shots per game.

That’s because the Clippers’ roster of stars has dwindled: Paul George moved to Philadelphia as a free agent, Westbrook is in Denver and Kawhi Leonard is out indefinitely with knee problems. And because the team wasn’t able to look for big names in the offseason to fill the void alongside Harden, they called up Powell’s number. It was addition by subtraction, you might say.

Because Powell was ready. Sure, his reputation in the NBA’s cutthroat game of musical chairs was that he was a role player. But I had a hunch – just like the Clippers did He did – that he was ready for his close-up.

He had told us. He wasn’t trying to be one of the boys, but “one of them.” this Guys.”

At Preseason Media Day two seasons ago, he stated by way of clarification: “For myself, I really have one goal… and that is to become an All-Star and come to camp to prove that I’m a starting guard.” .” And then, at this season’s media day, Powell posited that George’s departure in free agency would prove to be “addition by subtraction.”

Talk about showing your work. Powell managed to make sure Clippers fans don’t miss George at all. Even after suffering a hamstring injury last month, Powell is averaging career highs in points (23.5), field goal percentage (50.2%) and 3-point field goal percentage (48.4%), which , if you do the math, is 6.4 points better than George this season and is also 6.5% better from the field and 13.2% better from deep.

Talk about seizing the moment. Powell may not have the Q rating of a star yet, but he plays like one and scores And defended, and if he keeps it up and if the Clippers stay afloat – they’re proving to be a stubborn bunch, 15-12 and in ninth place in the Western Conference standings, a far cry from the catastrophic fall many expected – he should earn his first All-Star invitation. As the NBA’s oldest Most Improved Player honoree, he could also add some history.

“My high school self would be proud,” he said Monday. “I think about it sometimes; Actually, I’m doing what I said. I told my boy that I would be here scoring goals like Kobe, not sitting on another player’s bench, just making money. So I’m proud of myself for sticking with it, for continuing to have that hunger and that drive and having the attitude that I had early on.”

Talk about the payoff; talk about deserved. Powell may not have been considered a star, but he trained like one: three times a day, five days a week in the offseason. Eat clean. Meditate. Stretch. Massage therapy. Physiotherapy. Red light therapy. Hyperbaric chamber.

“He’s in the gym every day – I know it sounds cliché to say that, but the guy is in the gym dailysaid Nicolas Batum, the Clippers’ veteran forward. “But I’m serious. He’s literally in the gym every damn day.”

“On days when we have games,” said 24-year-old winger Jordan Miller, “he’s the first one here. And since I’m newer… I have to be one of the first here. And most of the time we come in at the same time. Makes me feel like I should have been here sooner.”

Nick Nurse was the 76ers coach who led Toronto’s bench when Powell arrived as a rookie in 2015 with the 47th pick in the draft and where he would contribute to the Raptors’ 2019 NBA championship. Nurse recently marveled at Powell’s vastly improved 3-point range ability, compared to just 31% as a college player.

“A hell of an improvement, isn’t it?” said the nurse. “He worked really hard to become a good shooter. Super hard worker – and that’s just a credit to him for understanding, “I’m a guard and I have to shoot if I want to play in this league.” And not only is he playing in this league, but he’s doing well. “

“One of my hardest workers, a terribly hard worker,” said Steve Alford, whose 30 years of coaching experience included two with Powell at UCLA, where he helped develop his offensive game. “If you follow his career from his freshman year at UCLA to his rookie season in the NBA to the progress he’s made from year to year, that’s his day-to-day life.”

Hear, hear! Here’s to hard work! That hard work pays off… eventually.