Kawhi Leonard is still an enigma in the NBA and it’s time we face the truth…
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I was one of millions of people losing their mind over a move that broke the NBA. Right after Anthony Davis had forced his way to the Lakers and Kevin Durant and Kyrie moved to the Nets,
This wasn’t just a roster move. This was supposed to change NBA history. **But…
*show a little montage of the Clippers losing every year, but quick*
And now we’re at the point where media outlets are theorizing Kawhi getting traded to the Pistons…
Because Kawhi hasn’t played a single game this season.
Kawhi Leonard is perhaps the biggest enigma in all of basketball. (*top down shot of Kawhi photos, edit video onto blank photo with a magnetic mask)* Simultaneously one of the best players in the league and more absent.
And now he’s getting sued, left team USA basketball and riding the Clippers’ bench.
The Clippers are stuck, fans are furious, and trade rumors are swirling.
I think all of us have heard the Kawhi timeline that got us here, and for those that haven’t, here’s it in under 60 seconds
In 2014 Kawhi gets drafted as a project to the San Antonio Spurs. By 2014, he developed into a phenomenal 3&D player that took a leap and became a super star in 2015, defensive player of the year, an MVP candidate in 2017 when he gets injured and misses under questionable circumstances where the Spurs thought he should have been able to be with the team. Tensions rise, Kawhi gets traded to the Raptors, brings them their first championship ever in 2019 while load managing and dips to the Clippers, forcing them to trade everything for Paul George including SGA. And then losing 3-1, injuries, more injuries and sitting out games, and the Clippers never make the NBA finals after being favorites.
But despite all the talk throughout the league about Kawhi, despite fans begging for a different outcome, the Clippers worst nightmare actually happened.
But does Kawhi deserve this fall from grace? Or did Kawhi ever deserve his spot in the greatest of all time? Because that’s not the whole story.
Here are the 5 super stars who missed the most games.
Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and Kawhi.
And here’s how many games they missed.
Joel at 120, Kyrie at 130, KD at 145, and Anthony Davis with 33% more than Embiid at 160. So there’s a 40 game range. And Kawhi falls at 239… (*bro what)*
Now Kawhi has had legitimate injuries led to several missed games but how many of those were load management, how many of those were unknownst indefinite delays in recovery, not sure but we’re the middle of one stretch right now.
So why did Kawhi get this leeway? Was he just that good? Short answer, kinda yeah. Kawhi is a 2 time defensive player of the year.