Clippers' Mason Plumlee on his delayed return to Ty Lue's rotation: "Have no regrets when I came back" (Exclusive)

The LA Clippers’ ability to win their first NBA championship in franchise story doesn’t just hinge on health. It doesn’t just depend on their star-studded roster, either.

The Clippers have secured a No. 4 seed for a first-round playoff matchup against the Dallas Mavericks partly because their stars and role players have embraced team play.

“You have a lot of guys that inherently have the same motivation with being here,” Clippers reserve center Mason Plumlee told Sportskeeda. “It starts from a good place individually. People want to win a championship. You get enough of those guys together, and it permeates through the rest of the locker room.”

Russell Westbrook volunteered to come off the bench. James Harden seems content with a complementary role. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have willingly given up ball-handling duties for the sake of more efficient play. After missing a combined 36 games related to an MCL injury in his left knee, Plumlee told Clippers coach Tyronn Lue that he didn’t want to disrupt the center rotation featuring Ivica Zubac and Daniel Theis.

“Mase is whatever the team needs,” Lue said. “He’s going to be ready to play.”

Plumlee spoke about those topics and more with Sportskeeda.

Mason Plumlee interview (Exclusive)

Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and condensed.

What was the process with overcoming your injury?

Mason Plumlee:

“Long season. It happened. I never really had anything like that in-season. So it was definitely a challenge. But there’s a good training staff here. They got me back. I’ve felt like myself again this time in the last month.”

What were the notable turning points both with challenges and successes with managing your injury?

Mason Plumlee:

“Like with anything, you want it to be linear and up into the right. But the reality is that some days felt better than others. The only thing that I’m sure now is it’s in the past. There’s no pain. There’s nothing holding me back at this point. It definitely took longer to get there than I expected.”

Did you have any feeling that you came back too soon? Ty wondered that.

Mason Plumlee:

“Yeah, you know, I don’t really question that because if you’re waiting to be 100% (laughs), it could be a whole other month. But I was happy with when I decided to come back. Also, I came back at a time when Zu was hurt. T [Theis] was our only big. So, it helped us on that road trip. I have no regrets when I came back.”

When you say in the last month that you feel like you turned a corner, what led to that?

Mason Plumlee:

“Just seeing myself do it on the floor. I definitely watch the games after we play them. I’m noticing a little bit more pop in my step.”

Ty mentioned that you were sensitive about not wanting to disrupt the rotation. Why did you feel that way?

Mason Plumlee:

“Part of signing back here was knowing that this is my bet on who is the best team. People may not look at it like that from a role-player perspective. But we still take into account when we get into free agency. We’re like, ‘Where’s the opportunity, who needs me?’ But a whole big part of the equation is, ‘Who can win this whole thing?’ To me, that leads to an excitement to come into practice each day to put the work in. It’s a long season. At this point in my career, I’ve really wanted that. I hadn’t had that on a team. Maybe one or two that I had been on before. So I came back at a time when these guys had won 10 or 11 in a row. It was an incredible streak. I just told Ty, ‘I want to be back. I’m healthy. I feel good. But at the same time, I want to be respectful of what’s going on.”

What was his reaction?

Mason Plumlee:

“He was cool with it. He’s handled a lot. Even when you see as good of a guy that James is, when we added him, we lost five in a row. There’s kind of a smoothing process with getting players in and out of rotations and lineups. He was great about it.”

How have you seen Ty manage everything with integrating James and handling the group?

Mason Plumlee:

“Being out and watching gives you a whole different perspective. There’s so much more going on than when you’re just playing and just thinking about what you’re doing on the floor. It’s a lot (laughs). I don’t imagine to know that I know everything that goes into it. He’s been managing that. It’s just day-to-day really. The season is long. A lot of things happen within it. You just have to take it a day at a time. That seems like that’s how he’s handled it.”

What do you think has been key for the play to match the talent and everyone to buy in?

Mason Plumlee:

“I think you have a lot of guys that inherently have the same motivation with being here. It starts from a good place individually. People want to win a championship. You get enough of those guys together, and it permeates through the rest of the locker room.”

With Russ embracing coming off the bench and Harden wanting to fit in when he joined, in what ways did that set the tone for everything else?

Mason Plumlee:

“It’s important when you start with guys like Kawhi and Paul, anybody coming in to complement will have to sacrifice. I think everybody, not just those two guys, but guys like Norm [Powell] and T-Mann [Terance Mann], other people have done that as well. It’s acknowledged internally, even if it isn’t externally.”

How have you seen James be able to play his game while still adjusting to a new role compared to what he did on other teams?

Mason Plumlee:

“He definitely felt it out his first couple of games here. Once he got more comfortable, everybody talks about that run that we went on. He was excellent. I think that’s what you’re going to see going into the playoffs. He’s at his best.”

What has his presence done for Kawhi and PG?

Mason Plumlee:

“Teams have always put two on those guys or have loaded up on the side. But if you get to the second side, you have a guy like James taking the shot or a guy like Amir [Coffey] stepping into it. There’s good shooting on the backside. That’s important.”

Considering you have perspective playing with other teams, what things have you appreciated even more about Kawhi, PG, Russ and Harden now that you play with them?

Mason Plumlee:

“If you’re on the other conference, you only play a guy once or twice a year. Even if you’re in the same conference and play with them three or four times, there’s nothing like being their teammate. Then you get a full appreciation for how he works and what he does night in and night out. There’s a stretch we had where Kawhi was lights out from every part of the floor. That’s something that you can’t fully appreciate if you’re only playing him one or two times.”

What jumps out to you about their routine?

Mason Plumlee:

“Nothing jumps out to me at this point. I’ve been around a lot of really good players. But guys like them have always been very professional with taking care of their bodies and understanding the length of the season and stuff like that.”

With the Clippers having a center-by-committee with Zu [Ivica Zubac], you and Theis, how have you seen the chemistry unfold?

Mason Plumlee:

“It’s come along well. Obviously, you have three guys that, in different situations, have proven that they can fill the role, do it well and do it at a high level. I think about Daniel being in the playoffs with Boston. Zu obviously has been here the longest, and is playing so well right now. I think you get a little different look from each guy. I think that guys that we play through appreciate the different complements.”

You’ve been known as a great passer. What has gone into developing that skill?

Mason Plumlee:

“That’s something that when I went to Portland [in 2015-16], they put the ball in my hands a lot and had me make plays. But here, James and Russ are so good doing that that I’m more at a finishing role. I’m playing in the dunker [spot] more. That is great. You can’t bring everything to each situation. There is sacrifice from everybody. But it’s something if we need it. The other night, we had a bunch of guys that were out. We played through the elbow a lot. It’s still there.”

With having three bigs, what’s your outlook on what that can do in the playoffs knowing you may have to go through [Nikola] Jokic or [Karl-Anthony] Towns?

Mason Plumlee:

“It’s just about throwing different looks at them. You can also always be fresh at the position. I don’t think anybody has to play tired. Guys can go out there and sprint. It’s a luxury to have.”