Injuries are an integral part of any sport. Sometimes they completely change your career before and after. One of the best forwards of his generation, Kawhi Leonard, who led the Toronto Raptors to their first championship in franchise history and also won a trophy with the San Antonio Spurs, appears to be completely mired in health problems. Many even believe that the 33-year-old basketball player could retire soon due to his frequent injuries.
First there was news that Kawhi would miss all of preseason training, and just yesterday there were new details. On this occasion it was reported that the Los Angeles Clippers forward will miss an undetermined number of games at the start of the season while he continues to recover from inflammation in his right knee. It started bothering him at the end of the last regular season. In this sense, Leonard played only two games in the playoffs, and the Clippers, without one of their leaders, naturally lost to Dallas in the first round.
Kawhi Leonard 2024 NBA Preseason
Photo: Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images
Time passed, Kawhi recovered from his injury and made the final bet for the United States basketball team to participate in the Paris Olympics. Preparations began, but literally after a couple of days of training the alarm sounded again. The Terminator suffered a wound that is still healing. His Clippers coach, Tyronn Lue, who is also an assistant to Steve Kerr on Team USA, recently recounted this same incident while playing with the Stars and Stripes: “He felt good, he looked good, the swelling decreased. Everything was going in the right direction. And when you start playing, you never know what can happen. I was in good shape going forward and it was just bad luck. So it was unfortunate.”
Forward made cargo management fashionable and literally became the embodiment of these words. Kawhi had already suffered various types of injuries and missed numerous games in his final years in San Antonio, but his frequent absences became the norm with Toronto and the Clippers. If with the “predators” he managed to win the championship despite the pain and all the obstacles, with the “sailboats” he only reached the conference final once in 2021, where, by the way, he did not play a single game due to the play -off he received along the way due to injury. There is a certain trend: Leonard collapses at the most crucial moment.
In five seasons with the Clippers, Kawhi missed 181 regular season games. There are more than two complete seasons. In addition, the injuries have long become chronic, as his “favorite” right knee has suffered to one degree or another many times. Some experts believe it is time for Leonard to retire from basketball.
Kendrick Perkins
NBA champion, television expert.
“It’s not a ‘hot’ comment, but when you think about his history and everything he’s going through now… They just mentioned that he’s been taking care of his leg for six months and still has knee problems. You need to sit at a round table, not necessarily with the organization’s leadership, but at least with your family. I really think it’s time for Kawhi to think about retiring, and I’m a big fan of Kawhi Leonard. There are a limited number of surgeries that can be performed. Kawhi needs to be honest with himself and know his body, he needs to talk to the organization and his family. But I do think that maybe he needs to think about retiring from basketball.”
A healthy Kawhi is without a doubt one of the 15 best players in the NBA. It is true that the problem is that lately we rarely see it like this. In the 2023/2024 season he played 68 games in the regular season, the best result since the 2016/2017 season. Leonard looked great and was selected to the second team of the best players in the NBA, but at the most crucial moment, in the playoffs, the forward was injured and we never saw him again.
An incredible player for whom destiny presented such challenges. Every basketball fan still remembers his winning shot against the Philadelphia 76ers through Joel Embiid. Life is what it is, without embellishments. Is Leonard worth the $50 million the Clippers pay him? Probably not anymore. Each new injury distances him from the fans and, probably, makes him think more and more about retiring for a well-deserved, although quite forced, retirement.
Injuries force you to take desperate measures:
Why are NBA players paid millions? One of the best basketball players has become completely insolent.
