{"id":1850567,"date":"2026-03-27T13:00:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1850567"},"modified":"2026-03-27T13:00:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:00:53","slug":"kawhi-leonard-isnt-just-balling-out-for-the-clippers-hes-also-speaking-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1850567","title":{"rendered":"Kawhi Leonard isn\u2019t just balling out for the Clippers. He\u2019s also speaking up"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Toward the end of a game at Intuit Dome, with the visiting Orlando Magic leading by two points, the ball found its way into Kawhi Leonard\u2019s hands. The LA Clippers All-Star felt the defense doubling him with the clock winding down, and instead of forcing a shot, he found recent trade acquisition Bennedict Mathurin.<\/p>\n

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It was the right play, and Leonard raised his arm in pre-celebration, but Mathurin\u2019s 3-point shot was too long. As Mathurin got to his feet, Leonard was there to greet him, smiling.<\/p>\n

The gesture wasn\u2019t lost on Leonard\u2019s teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey understand he\u2019s a Hall of Famer,\u201d Clippers guard Kris Dunn told The Athletic <\/em>of Leonard. \u201cThe first thing (Leonard) told (Mathurin) was, \u2018Yo, you\u2019re good! This is part of your growth.\u2019 And to see something like that from a Hall of Famer, somebody who\u2019s playing at an exceptional level this year, to be able to give Benn that type of confidence to let him know don\u2019t worry about it, that shot is gonna come again, you\u2019ll be prepared \u2026 I thought it was major.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that shows the step right there. Like, OK, he\u2019s taking another step in the leadership role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard\u2019s growth as a leader has come in a Clippers season that has seen some extreme highs and lows. Before the Clippers even played a game, Leonard and the team became embroiled in a cap-circumvention scandal that still has the franchise under NBA investigation.<\/p>\n

Then the Clippers started playing and lost 19 of 22 games, and at one point early in the season, they dropped to 6-21. Leonard was part of the oldest roster in the league, and an underachieving one at that.<\/p>\n

But three things turned around. Leonard started a career-long streak of scoring at least 20 points in a game in late November that was extended to a single-season, franchise-record 49 consecutive games after he scored 27 points in a 119-94 win Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors. The Clippers are now 37-36, continuing a historic turnaround that has them as the first team in NBA history to fall 15 games under .500 and still get over .500 later in the same season.<\/p>\n

And they\u2019ve done it with the 34-year-old Leonard still here after the season-ending hip injury to 32-year-old Bradley Beal, the dismissal of 40-year-old franchise legend Chris Paul and the trades of 36-year-old All-NBA point guard James Harden and All-Defense center Ivica Zubac. Those deals returned younger talent in point guard Darius Garland and Mathurin.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think this year, the difference is, with James and Zu being gone, he understands that he has to speak up a little bit more,\u201d Dunn said of Leonard. \u201cWe got a lot of young guys that are playing, and he\u2019s been doing a phenomenal job with it. He\u2019s speaking a lot more. As everybody knows, he\u2019s a quiet person. But at the same time, he is not. It\u2019s just moments, you know what I mean? \u2026 One of his best (pieces of) advice that I think anybody can take from him is slow as pro<\/em>, and that\u2019s as clean as it can get.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s vocal,\u201d Clippers veteran Nicolas Batum told The Athletic<\/em> of Leonard. \u201cI mean, not the most (vocal teammate) I\u2019ve ever had, but he is vocal, though. And when we say lead by example, that\u2019s pretty much what it is, though. \u2026 You can trust him; he won\u2019t do any mistakes, fights, no matter what. That\u2019s what you need from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Clippers are now in a position where they are trying to secure a playoff spot and get to 42 wins, which would extend the league\u2019s longest active streak of winning seasons to 15 years. Leonard has certainly led by example with a career-best 28.3 points per game and his most steals per game (2.0) in 11 years, excluding his nine-game final season with the San Antonio Spurs. He\u2019s never made more 3s in a season than this one.<\/p>\n

Leonard\u2019s health has put him in a tricky spot. He has already missed 16 games this season, with 10 coming in November. For Leonard to be eligible for MVP voting or an All-NBA spot, he has to play in at least eight of the remaining nine Clippers games.<\/p>\n

Leonard is a two-time NBA Finals MVP, but he has not received a regular-season MVP vote since 2021, and he hasn\u2019t been higher than fifth since 2017. He is a six-time All-NBA selection, but he has missed out on that honor in three of the last four seasons. Leonard is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and a seven-time All-Defense selection, but he hasn\u2019t been on an All-Defensive Team since 2021.<\/p>\n

He would like to change that.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re individual honors, and everybody\u2019s putting the work in around the league to try to be All-NBA, All-Defensive Team, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved and MVP,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cSo, when you\u2019re able to get one of those accolades, you know your hard work paid off in a sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Kawhi Leonard whispers to teammate Kris Dunn during a Rockets-Clippers game in February in Houston. (Thomas Shea \/ Imagn Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When the current 65-game benchmark for award eligibility was introduced in 2023, Leonard was not amused by the narrative that suggested the limit would impact load management. \u201cNo league policy is helping me to play more games,\u201d Leonard said in October 2023<\/a>. Now, that same policy is relevant to Leonard\u2019s end-of-season endeavors and has already eliminated worthy candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great for the league trying to, I guess, stop people just from sitting,\u201d Leonard said when asked about whether his thoughts on the 65-game rule have changed. \u201cBut like I said before, I don\u2019t think that rule is changing to play if they\u2019re really hurt, you know what I mean? I don\u2019t think it makes sense to just try to go through a game if you\u2019re in any pain. It\u2019s something that you\u2019re trying to keep under control. It just is what it is, you know? The healthiest guys play. That\u2019s just how the ball rolls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard has indeed continued to play, even though he has been listed as questionable quite often this season while managing sprains to both ankles. Whether it\u2019s playing through injury, playing with joy or playing with the necessary effectiveness for the Clippers to be competitive, Leonard\u2019s teammates have appreciated him and his presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to have this guy on the team,\u201d Mathurin told The Athletic<\/em>. \u201cThe way he\u2019s been playing motivated a lot of guys on the team to do the right thing. Seeing how hard he works, the work speaks for itself. \u2026 I think he\u2019s first-team All-NBA. He\u2019s All-Defensive Team. He\u2019s averaging two steals a game. He takes the hard matchups every game. It\u2019s great to be a part of his history and (be) along the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clippers rookie Kobe Sanders said Leonard has stressed that \u201cthe game is your time to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe likes to put things in action and learn on the fly and really try to implement everything he works on straight into the game. So, that\u2019s one thing,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cHe\u2019s basically instilled us all with confidence. If you work on it, implement it right into the game, because that\u2019s your time to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Many believed the changes to the Clippers would lead to Leonard leaving the franchise soon, too. His words about the state of the Clippers as contenders<\/a> have been misinterpreted often. But Leonard is motivated to win, both for his team and for himself. There is a level of pride that Leonard is taking in this unique season, one that is allowing him to show a more assertive side of himself while having fun doing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re doing it themselves; it\u2019s between their ears,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cThis group likes to play basketball. They love to have fun out there and compete. And we\u2019re not scared of nobody, even if they\u2019re more talented or the record\u2019s better. We still wanna go out and compete and try to have pride in playing and being competitive out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of young guys, guys that\u2019s getting a lot of minutes in different roles this year that are stepping up. You just gotta just tell them to enjoy the moment, even at times when we\u2019re down or the calls ain\u2019t going our way. It\u2019s just basketball at the end of the day. \u2026 So, just keep one foot in front of the other and just play and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toward the end of a game at Intuit Dome, with the visiting Orlando Magic leading by two points, the ball found its way into Kawhi Leonard\u2019s hands. The LA Clippers All-Star felt the defense doubling him with the clock winding down, and instead of forcing a shot, he found recent trade acquisition Bennedict Mathurin. Advertisement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1850567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1850567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1850567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1850567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1850567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}