Outstanding NBA analyst Invoice Simmons has sparked dialog across the Los Angeles Clippers’ future with Kawhi Leonard.
Simmons recommended that the franchise and its fanbase might have reached a breaking level concerning the star ahead’s persistent availability points.
Leonard is at the moment in his fifth season with the Clippers, a tenure marked by flashes of brilliance overshadowed by prolonged absences.
Whereas he has guided the workforce to the playoffs 4 occasions, their ceiling has been restricted to a single Western Convention Finals look within the 2020-21 season.
“That is now over a half decade of ‘effectively if Kawhi can simply…’ and I feel that is it,” Simmons said on his podcast. “This has been 5 years of this.”
The frustration stems not from Leonard’s on-court efficiency, however fairly his incapacity to remain wholesome for prolonged durations.
This season alone, the six-time All-Star has appeared in simply 31 video games whereas battling a number of accidents, primarily associated to ongoing knee points.
Simmons articulated the emotional rollercoaster Clippers followers expertise when Leonard is on the market: “His bounce is there, for those who see it in particular person, I don’t know the way lengthy that’s gonna final. And it’s gotten to the purpose when he’s on the market with the opposite guys they’ve, when Clipper followers suppose rightfully ‘we will dangle with any workforce within the league’.”
“And the explanation he’s a crossroads factor is I feel the Clipper followers are on the crossroads with that feeling,” he added.
The statistical decline is clear. Leonard is averaging 20.5 factors, 5.8 rebounds, and three assists this season—all profession lows throughout his Clippers tenure.
Regardless of the diminished manufacturing, he alongside James Harden stays integral to the workforce’s championship aspirations.
Presently sitting eight within the Western Convention with a 43-32 document, the Clippers are nonetheless have an opportunity to make one other playoff run.
Nonetheless, Simmons believes one other postseason availability problem might completely harm the connection between the fan base and their star participant.
“If he will get harm once more or he falls aside not directly or he’s not there or in spherical one, rapidly sport three Shams is reporting Kawhi Leonard is uncertain for tonight, I simply don’t suppose the Clipper followers wanna do it once more,” Simmons defined.
This concern is especially related contemplating final season’s disappointment. Again then, Leonard appeared in simply two video games throughout the Clippers’ first-round playoff collection towards the Dallas Mavericks—once they in the end misplaced in six video games.
Because the common season winds down and one other playoff look approaches, the strain mounts on each Leonard and the group.
With the workforce transferring into their new Intuit Dome subsequent season and important monetary investments made of their roster, the Clippers discover themselves at a crucial juncture.
The approaching weeks might decide not solely this season’s destiny however probably the long run route of the franchise and its relationship with its oft-injured celebrity.
For Clippers followers who’ve endured years of ‘what ifs‘ the 2025 playoffs might symbolize the ultimate take a look at of their persistence.
