How Kawhi Leonard, Paul George have the LA Clippers rolling،
Kawhi Leonard is a man of few words who hears even less of what is said about him.
But after a 120-114 loss to the Golden State Warriors on November 30, when Leonard and fellow LA Clippers player Paul George completed their second straight game in a week, Leonard found some humor in the duo used as an example in stories about the NBA's player participation policy.
“We should sue for — what do you call it? — negligence,” Leonard joked to ESPN.
The league's policy, adopted in September, aimed to encourage stars to play more and limit high-profile, nationally televised games. So far, that doesn't apply to the Clippers, who are off to their healthiest start to the Leonard-George era.
Leonard played every game this campaign, while George only missed one due to hip soreness. The team is also on an eight-game winning streak since that loss at Golden State. With both players eligible for contract extensions this year, the two All-Stars played in the first 23 games – their longest streak of consecutive games together on the court since joining the Clippers in the summer of 2019.
If the arrival of James Harden on October 30 added a new dimension, it is no coincidence that the Clippers' winning streak is largely due to the good health of their two pillars of the franchise.
“That was never the case,” George said after the Golden State loss, about him and Leonard not playing during last season to rest. “We had some injuries that we were trying to minimize.
“Nobody knows what we're going through, where our bodies are. But they paint this picture for us like we're sitting at a game like we want to be.”
Leonard and George have the chance to play their fifth straight game this season against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday and against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. The two stars only played 38 games together last season, but they have already appeared in more consecutive games together this season (four) than in the previous four campaigns combined (three), according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Leonard said it will take him two years to return to his two-time Finals MVP form after tearing the ACL in his right knee during the 2021 playoffs, an injury that forced him to miss the entire regular season 2021-22. He may be playing his best regular season basketball as a Clipper, but Leonard has often been criticized for his recovery regime.
“I think people think that when he's out, it's like he doesn't care,” Clippers assistant coach Jeremy Castleberry told ESPN. “And 'I just sit to sit because I can.'
“That’s the part that’s funny, especially when you know what he’s been through and what he’s playing on.”
CASTLEBERRY KNOWN Leonard since the two played together at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California. They both played at San Diego State, where Leonard played the lead role and Castleberry was a backup. Previously an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors when Leonard played for those two teams, Castleberry knows what the forward physically endured behind the scenes.
During his final year with the Spurs in 2017-18, Leonard only played in nine games due to a right quad injury. The following season in Toronto, Leonard was named NBA Finals MVP after leading the Raptors to the championship despite the effects of injury limiting him to 60 regular season games.
“THE [Spurs’ title] year in [2013-14, when Leonard also was Finals MVP]it's not really publicized, but he played more on one leg [as well]”, Castleberry told ESPN. “And everyone knows what he went through in the 2018-19 season, when Toronto won the championship and he is practically playing on one leg.
“Going through all these playoffs [in 2019], he could barely keep his knee bent. … SO [when people have the] a thought process that boils down to “Oh, I just don't want to play”, I think that's probably the funniest thing [people say about Leonard]”.
Because Leonard and his teams don't often go into detail about his injuries, it can lead to speculation from fans and experts alike, such as when some suggested Leonard was handling his load after being ruled out for the game 3 of a first round game against the Phoenix Suns in April. At the time, the Clippers did not specify his injury, but Leonard would miss the remainder of this series with a torn meniscus in his right knee.
Leonard, who averaged 55 games played in each of his previous four regular seasons, has now appeared in 26 consecutive games during a campaign for the first time since 2016-17, when he played in the first 31 games this season for the Spurs. This season, Leonard is averaging 24.2 points on 52% shooting from the field, including 44% from 3-point range, in a career-high 34.4 minutes.
Only Leonard, LeBron James, Karl-Anthony Towns, Tyrese Haliburton and Kevin Durant average at least 20 points while shooting 50% from the field and 40% from 3s.
The Clippers forward might be the most efficient player in the league right now, averaging 32.8 points on 65-59-95 shooting in his previous six games. Leonard is the only player to average 30 points with a 65-55-95 record over a six-game span, according to ESPN Stats & Info data.
“It took years of trying to get over that wall,” Leonard said of getting back to this point after a win over the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 29. “I've been dealing with this right knee injury for a while, since 2016-17. Even going through the Raptors run, it's my first year so far [again] it is enough to impose another tribute on it.
“Now I feel good coming out of matches, and I don't feel any [pain]. So, I just want to keep going, and my goal is just to stay healthy, and the rest will take care of itself. »
LIKE HARDENED DRILLED his sixth 3-pointer in the fourth quarter of Monday's 151-127 loss to the Indiana Pacers and celebrated by making snow angels on the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, a giddy Leonard and George jumped off the bench and celebrated with their red-hot point guard .
Leonard and George are still scoring points in batches, but they don't have to do all the heavy lifting with the addition of Harden, a former league MVP and three-time scoring champion.
The Clippers lost six in a row shortly after the Harden trade, but they have since won 13 of 16. With Harden now handling the ball as the starting point guard and Russell Westbrook taking on a sixth man role , Leonard and George have adjusted their game, which, in turn, eases their nightly physical toll.
George said in late November that it would take time for the Clippers' stars “to figure out who the 'new you' is” with Harden on board.
Last season, George was asked to be more of a playmaker. He grabbed the ball for 20.1 half-court possessions per game, his highest rate in a season since player tracking began in 2013-14.
This season, he's down to 12.9 such possessions per game, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Handling the ball less often also reduced his turnovers from 3.1 per game in 2022-23 to 2.2 this season.
Harden's contributions also helped reduce Leonard's tally, according to Clippers coach Ty Lue. Leonard gets more catch-and-shoot 3s and is able to play past opposing defenders to close it out, and Lue also said the forward acts quicker on double teams.
Additionally, Harden's passing and presence allowed Leonard to reach his midfield positions more efficiently and with fewer shots.
“So it’s good for us in the long run and he doesn’t play 82 games. [where] we get beat up every night,” Lue said. “And so that's what's great about having James.”
“For them to get easier shots, open up 3s. Before, they had to take every shot. They had to create every shot,” Lue explained when asked about Harden's impact on Leonard and George.
George and Leonard are still averaging the most minutes they have as Clippers this season; each has played at least 38 minutes in eight games each since Harden's arrival.
“Win games,” Lue said of his two stars' heavy minutes after a Dec. 11 win over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers. “We just have to win games until we find a solution… right now we need it every moment.”
Leonard and George's strong start to the campaign was also felt by the rest of the Clippers. Last season, there were times when Leonard, George or both stars were ruled out on the day of games and, in some cases, hours before tipoff, sometimes frustrating coaches and teammates.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” center Ivica Zubac said of having Leonard and George healthy this season. “You know, we're going to fight every night. And when we have our two main players with us every game, it pushes us to be even better. It motivates us.
“The last few years, sometimes when they were away, it's a little harder to go out there and know you don't have your number 1 or your number 2.”
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said the team needs to take the regular season more seriously after winning 44 games in 2022-23 and finishing fifth in the Western Conference.
The Clippers are aware of how their stars are perceived when they are rested. Yet Frank resented seeing his two stars held up as prime examples of the need for a participatory policy.
“I thought it was very, very unfair and a low blow,” Frank told ESPN. “But we said all along we had to earn it. … Have our guys been hurt? Yeah, they've been hurt. When they're healthy, are they playing? Yeah, they're playing.”
“What I like about [Leonard] and Paul is simply the property they took as the Clippers,” he continued. “Your best players, they do it with their actions.
Leonard said playing every game this season is just about being healthy again and “there was never a lack of rules.” [policy]”.
“He's going to go out, do what he has to do, and he doesn't care what people think,” Castleberry said of criticism of how Leonard handles his health. “He knows the truth, and as long as he can sleep at night, he's perfectly fine. And he sleeps pretty well.”
