LA Clippers: The Kawhi Leonard Era Has Not Been A Failure

Is the pairing of Kawhi Leonard with the LA Clippers a failure? Several things contribute to a successful marriage between an elite player and a team. In the eyes of many doubters and trolls, there is only one thing that constitutes a healthy marriage in the NBA, a championship title. In just a season and a half, the marriage between five-time All-Star in small forward Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers is being considered by the loud few voices a failure.

It is no secret that the LA Clippers are one of the most disrespected franchises in the NBA. This is largely due to sharing the same city as the Los Angeles Lakers and how they’ve never made it to the Western Conference Finals. They caught more hate when Leonard chose to sign with the Clippers than the “presumed favorite” in the Lakers or re-sign with the Toronto Raptors.

With the signing of Leonard came pressure in the first season with the LA Clippers along with fellow superstar Paul George. This past NBA postseason didn’t go the Clippers’ way as fatigue and team chemistry problems forced an early exit in the second round to the Denver Nuggets. The Clippers made moves this offseason by getting rid of the team problems in former head coach Doc Rivers and reigning sixth man of the year recipient Montrezl Harrell. Even with most of the team chemistry problems gone, “experts” outside of the organization insist the problems are still there.

Kawhi Leonard’s time with the LA Clippers has not been a failure.

While the LA Clippers were favorites to win the NBA title this past season, they missed their first chance in Leonard’s first year with the Clippers. To many people, who have the patience and attention span of a fruit fly, that marriage is apparently a failure after one season returned a lack of success.

In LeBron James’ first season with the Lakers, the team missed the NBA Playoffs with a 37-45 record. The 2018-2019 NBA season was only the third-time James’ career in which he missed the NBA playoffs. By that measure of success in the eyes of those “experts,” the marriage between James and the Lakers would have been considered a failure.

Kawhi Leonard is constantly critiqued for not being as open as some of the other elite players in the NBA both on-and-off the court. Last season, the report from Athletic (subscription requited) also mentions the special treatment that Leonard and George received as star players from the LA Clippers. It is common knowledge that every star player gets special treatment. That report indicated that some players, who are now gone, hated the special treatment because they felt that they were entitled to that special treatment.

Kawhi Leonard has seen his performances more evaluated and critiqued than ever before. This isn’t to praise the great playmaker they called him before arriving in Los Angeles but rather an attempt to degrade him. This kind of hate from trolls and gotcha journalism reporters wants to force Clipper Nation and NBA fans to believe the marriage of Leonard and the LA Clippers is crumbling.

What is even more exhausting is that these articles and gotcha journalism techniques also like to mention that the fact that this “stinker” or a “bust” is the same player they wanted on the Lakers with James and Anthony Davis. They will go out of their way to praise him and worship but when the decision isn’t what they wanted, those facts become shrouded in a self-entitled rage that mocks him constantly.

These are the same biased journalists that called Lakers’ Markieff Morris a better player than his own twin brother in LA Clippers’ Marcus Morris. Paul George is an easy target because of his disappointing playoff performances and his mental health journey.

Not only is this trend of expressional journalism full of bad takes but it’s tiring. Fans and readers are looking for ways to invest themselves in the culture of the teams they read; instead often they are forced into the petty emotional diary of reporters. This type of journalism shows the real goal of these trolls and reporters who wear their fan colors on their sleeves.

While the first year with Kawhi Leonard as a member of the LA Clippers was not perfect, he is the best player the team has had since Chris Paul. Leonard has been more embracing of his role as the LA Clippers’ team attraction, he has stepped up his role as a leader in the locker room and has been more emotionally invested this season than ever in his NBA career.

The man of few words has shown his love and appreciation for the LA Clippers this season. In this unusual season that was affected by the impact of COVID-19, the short offseason, and the continually changing culture of the LA Clippers, Kawhi Leonard has been the number one contributor helping the team compete for their first-ever Conference Finals and NBA Finals title.