The Weird Career Of Kawhi Leonard…

The Weird Career Of Kawhi Leonard…

this is the this is the worst Superstar I can make a case this is the worst superstar in the history of sports he is a nightmare you’re talking about the first four years of his time with the Clippers he’s averaged 40.3 point to 40.3 games a year a season 40.3 all right so Stephen A Smith usually speaks in hyperbole but I lowkey agree with what he’s saying here about kawh Leonard and kawh Leonard’s career is very very weird right usually with Players whose careers are like riddled with injuries we say things like they’re major what if stories right what if this guy didn’t get hurt what if his prime was a little bit longer kawhai is so weird because his career has been cut short or he wasn’t able to be as effective because of injuries but still with that he’s got two championships and two finals MVPs right generally with those what if stories with those Players whose careers are like riddled with injuries they don’t win championships right like Penny Hardway didn’t win a championship because his prime was cut short due to injuries and even if he did win a championship later people wouldn’t look at it with the same significance as him winning one in his prime same with Tracy McGrady right those types of players usually don’t win titles kaai is so weird because he’s a what if story even with two NBA championships and even with two NBA Finals MVP awards and the issue with Kawhi lon’s career isn’t that we got to see we didn’t get to see the best of him right it isn’t that we didn’t get to see him in his prime is that his prime was not long enough so that’s one thing about evaluating careers is consistency over a long period of time means everything we can see somebody at their Peak but if they’re not able to sustain that for x amount of years that’s what separates them from other guys so same with Derrick Rose we saw him at his Peak he was amazing but his prime only lasted maybe about two or three years right we didn’t get to see Derrick Rose sustain that yeah he had some solid years after that first major ACL injury and some really good playoff moments with the bulls especially in that 2015 uh Series against the Cleveland Cavaliers but still his prime just wasn’t long enough so Kawhi Leonard is the ultimate example of that yes his Peak was amazing at his Peak he is probably the greatest two-way player in NBA history think about the 2016 season he’s the defensive player of the year not only that but he’s almost the league MVP or I can’t say almost cuz Curry unanimously wanted but he was second in MVP voting that particular season not a lot of guys in NBA history ju MVPs or came that close with winning MVP awards and were also hands down the greatest perimeter defensive players in the game right I said extreme Rarity of NBA players like that last guy to do that would have to be Michael Jordan I’d have to go back in the history books to see if he actually won an MVP in a de point in the same year but you get my point what Kawhi leard was able to accomplish in his best years was just so ridiculous the issue is we didn’t get to see it throughout a long period of time so the thing with the Clippers stint here is this right he comes into the Clippers organization after winning that first title in 2019 and he came in at the top of the world right everybody at that point in time or at least a lot of people were saying things like he is the best player in the NBA LeBron at that point kind of relinquished that title The Warriors EXC me the Lakers didn’t make the playoffs in 2019 so the number one player in the league debate was kind of up for grabs Ka wins it in 2019 and wins the MVP and at that point he’s still ridiculous from a defensive standpoint so a lot of people considered him as the best player in basketball at that point in time then he goes over to the Clippers with this super stacked roster I remember the day I found out that Paul George and kawhai were going to be pairing up together and I’m like my goodness that’s Kawai Paul George montrez Harrow Lou Williams Patrick Beverly so many great other role players not only is that team impressive offensively but defensively that should be one of the greatest teams in NBA history that’s Paul George who’s been a monster two-way player throughout the course of his career same with kawhai Leonard who at that time was the signature two-way player Patrick Beverly known as one of the most agitating defensive players in the league montre herrell was solid defensively as well so that should have been a team that was like not only going to be number one in team offensive rating maybe like one two or three but they could also have been number one or two in defensive rating that’s what their upside was and they did have a pretty good regular season but they got into the playoffs and they disappointed obviously there is that second round loss against the Denver Nuggets where they blew a huge series lead and all of their best players Kawhi Leonard and Paul George just did not show up to play and so since then it’s just been nothing right for the Clippers absolutely nothing years and years of them having really really good rosters and getting nothing out of it now obviously in 2021 they made the West finals but they weren’t able to do much because Kawhi Leonard was out due to injuries and they lost to the Phoenix then the next year more playoff disappointments and then more playoff disappointments and it kind of comes up to this year where it’s the same thing the best roster they’ve had during this Kawhi Leonard PG era there’s James Harden along with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and still injuries killed them but even with kawhai being out James Harden and Paul George were not consistent enough in that first round so this Clippers eror not only has kawai’s career been disappointing since winning that title in 2019 but this Clippers era to me is going to go down as one of the most disappointing erors in NBA history I’ve talked about that millions of times so many good rosters great coaching with Tyran L who just got a major contract extension yesterday welld deserved so many great things on paper they’re just unable to convert and that’s why I want to calm down on Kawaii just a bit a lot of his absence is due to injuries a lot of people talk really harshly about Kawhi Leonard and I get it I get the disappointment as a fan but a lot of his stuff has come down to injuries and even when he’s not hurt a lot of his absence has come down to load management due to his scare with injuries right so I can understand why a team why the Clippers would be really reluctant about letting him go all out during the regular season given his injury history so everything deserves context when Kawhi Leonard’s kind of not playing games due to him not being hurt him just not going out there and playing him load managing the context behind that is he just has a really extensive injury history that goes all the way back to his time with San Antonio so Wally has been disappointing right W’s career hasn’t been what a lot of people have wanted it to be I mean Kawhi Leonard could have been a top 10 player of all time and I think at this point it’s not going to happen right maybe if the Clippers win a championship next year and he’s the MVP maybe it could happen but top 10 seems pretty unattainable but he had that type of upside right but I don’t think we should blame it solely on him right A lot of people blame it on him he’s just one of those guys that got hurt a lot and because he was hurt a lot the team was really reluctant to let him go all out during the regular season and why he was load managed a lot of people kind of just pointed the finger at him they’re like oh he doesn’t want to play he doesn’t want to go out there and compete I think it was the team being super cautious with him due to his injury history I mean he’s been hurt a lot in the playoffs during his time here with the Clippers 2021 I just mentioned it he was out during the West finals with an ACL injury if he was there they could have won a championship I legitimately think that I think they would have beaten the Phoenix Suns that series and they would have given Milwaukee a very tough time at least in the NBA finals and then there was last season where they were injured in that first round Series against the Suns once again and then this year injuries so everything deserves context while kawhai has had a disappointing career All Things Considered it’s not like we point the fingers at him and it’s not like these things where it’s all on him so Kevin Durant right now I don’t think he’s had a disappointing career but a lot of people will say that because he went to Golden State to go win those two championships I don’t think it was disappointing but there are a lot of people who do that would be a career that you would say a player quote unquote ruined on their own if that’s what you think about Kevin Durant not the same here with kawh Leonard kawh St has been due to injuries and so while he has been a very disappointing Superstar people say it with this super negative connotation as if it’s his fault but everything is a reaction due to his injury history so like I said I don’t know what he can do at this point to truly revive his career again another championship would be great and another Finals MVP would be great but I think this whole Clippers ERA with all the injuries is gonna be looked down upon regardless it’s gonna be looked at as a really really weird era in his career especially is going to be looked at that same way even if he wins that third Championship because when people look back and they evaluate it people are going to be wondering well what happened during all these Gap years right how come there was this major Gap from 2019 to like 2024 what was happening during that period of time he was so in available he was so absent so if that’s the case can we truly say he’s a top 10 player of all time if people discount Kevin Durant’s two rings people would definitely do the same thing with Kawhi Leonard if he wins three so that’s the entire thing so I hate that this turned out this way for Kawai because I was just such a fan of him around 2019 I thought he proved so much and it was exciting seeing a guy be that great on both ends especially as a perimeter player right it was exciting seeing someone be so prolific offensively while also being prolific on the defensive end playing out there on the perimeter but we’ll see what ends up happening and what decisions the Clippers make this off season because it is going to be a very important offseason for them a very pivotal offseason for them as they are 100% in Championship or bust mode let’s be honest they were in Championship or bust mode at the start of last season so right now their window is closing they have a lot of work to do but I do agree with what Stephen A Smith is saying here again the reasons may be different but I do agree generally with what he’s saying about Kawai having one of the most disappointing Superstar careers not only in NBA history but in sports history in general

Earlier today on #espnfirsttake, the crew had a discussion about Tyronn Lue’s decision to resign an extension with the #laclippers. In reaction to this, #stephenasmith made the bold claim that the Clippers are on the clock now to win a title, and questioned their ability to do that given the lack of availability from #kawhileonard over the years. It brings the discussion to teh table, does Kawhi Leonard have the msot confusing career in #nba history?

Time Stamps:

0:00 A Word From Stephen A. Smith
0:44 What Makes Kawhi Leonard’s Career So Weird
3:00 Kawhi’s Underwhelming Stint With The LA Clippers
5:50 Why It’s Not Fair To Solely Blame Kawhi Leonard

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