Everyone that knows anything about basketball knows why the LA Clippers pursued Kawhi Leonard so hard six years ago. Because as we know, when he is healthy and at his best, Leonard is among the best and most impactful players on the planet, especially in a playoff environment. It is the reason he was so sought-after in the 2019 free agency cycle, and it is why this Clippers team has a chance to make noise in this year's postseason.
Against all odds, LA has overplayed their preseason expectations in the 2024-25 season. They have James Harden and plenty of others to thank for that. Behind strong defense, they have put together an impressive regular season campaign. But at the end of the day, in the bloodbath that is the NBA's Western Conference, the Clippers are not going to have a chance to go deep into the playoffs without Kawhi Leonard at his best. With that being the case, it raises one all-important question for Clipper nation: can Kawhi's body hold up for an entire postseason run?
Obviously, the answer to that question will ultimately determine what LA's fate will be this season. This is of course not an easy discussion for Clippers fans to have, given Leonard's injury history. His first season in Los Angeles back in 2019-20 is still the only year with the franchise where he has both started and ended the season mostly healthy.
Kawhi's durability in the playoffs is a huge question mark
In the 2020-21 playoffs, Clipper fans remember vividly the kind of heater Kawhi was on in the playoffs. Against the Dallas Mavericks in round one, Leonard put on arguably the greatest performance of his postseason career when he registered a staggering 45 points to keep LA alive in Game 6, making shot after shot down the stretch of the contest. It still stands among the most impressive games of his illustrious career. As we know, Kawhi would unfortunately suffer a torn ACL later that playoffs that would sideline him through the following season.
After Leonard spent the 2022-23 season returning from a major injury and getting back to form, some wondered if he still had that same ability to come alive in the playoffs in him. He quickly silenced those doubters with a monster 38-point performance in a Game 1 win over the favored Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately, he would miss the remainder of the series following Game 2 with a torn meniscus. Last season, swelling in Kawhi's knee prevented him from finishing the Clippers' first round series healthy once again.
Wondering if Leonard will be able to hold up in the playoffs this year is absolutely a legitimate concern. Kawhi is one of the greatest playoff performers of all-time, but his body has simply not been able to keep up in recent years. We have not seen a healthy Kawhi for a full postseason in quite some time. The Clippers' ceiling is limitless if that version of Leonard indeed shows up, but their hopes may all come crashing down if recent history repeats itself.
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