The Los Angeles Clippers are on a three-game losing streak, with losses to the Heat, Thunder, and, most recently, the Suns. Kawhi Leonard played in the first six games of the season before missing the past two with an ankle injury. As concerning as it is for the Clippers that their star player is already dealing with an injury less than three weeks into the regular season, the concern goes a little deeper than that.
LA is 3-3 on the season in games that Kawhi plays. In the three losses against Utah (Oct. 22), Golden State (Oct. 28), and Miami (Nov. 3), he averaged 18.3 points per game. In the three wins against Phoenix (Oct. 24), Portland (Oct. 26), and New Orleans (Oct. 31), he averaged 30.3 points per game.
Who would've thought there would be a correlation between Kawhi's high-scoring games and LA's success?
The Clippers are learning (again) that Kawhi will determine how far they make it. They need him to be healthy and in the lineup, for starters. The way he looked in the playoffs last season, averaging 25 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game, is why LA's first-round series went to seven games. Kawhi looked like the old Kawhi.
The Clippers are still all about Kawhi Leonard
Fans were hopeful entering the 2025-26 season for many reasons, with one of the biggest being that, for the first time in five years, Kawhi had a healthy offseason. That in itself is a win for the 34-year-old, who can never seem to catch much of a break.
Unfortunately, the Clippers didn't really look like their best selves during the time Kawhi spent on the floor before he got hurt, but that was an anomaly. It's still early in the season, too. That shouldn't become the new norm, not when Kawhi returns.
If this injury turns out to be something more serious than a twisted ankle, or if he ends up dealing with another injury sometime during the season, LA will be reminded again that its hopes of making a run in the West will quickly fade. That's not abnormal whenever a team is without its star player, but this particular star player means more to this team than others.
Hopefully, the rough patches that Kawhi has gone through this season, not just his latest injury, won't define how this season goes for him and the Clippers. If so, the joy that fans felt watching LA in the second half of last season will be a very distant memory.