The LA Clippers may be forced to take a step back this coming season with Paul George now out of the picture. The front office clearly made some timely moves to upgrade the roster following his departure, but it also remains clear that the Western Conference is stacked, and it will be difficult for the Clippers to contend for a championship as is.
But I said difficult, not impossible. The fact of the matter is, as long as LA has Kawhi Leonard on their side, the rest of the league will never be able to completely count the Clippers out. Many will hear me say this and respond with a chuckle, a roll of the eyes, or perhaps close out of this article entirely. And I completely understand this response, while also still believing my sentiment to be correct.
We get it. Kawhi has had some of the worst injury luck of any star player over the course of the last five years since he became a Clipper. He has finished just one of those five seasons fully healthy, being forced to sit on the sidelines for the conclusion of LA's season in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
His questionable availability combined with increasing age is the main reason opposing fans, analysts, and seemingly everyone is counting him and the Clippers out. But need I remind you that when Kawhi is healthy and performing at the top of his powers, he remains one of the best basketball players on the planet.
Kawhi Leonard averaged 30.5 ppg on 61.9% true shooting during the 2019 championship run with Toronto, which is impressive enough BUT...
— Alex (@AlexHoops_) September 15, 2024
43% of his shots came from the mid range during that run. To be THAT efficient on predominately "low percentage shots" is just stupid.
Kawhi puts up absurd shooting efficiency when it matters most
What better statistic to illustrate this point than the one shared this week by @AlexHoops_ on social media? As we think back to the 2019 playoffs where Leonard led the Toronto Raptors to their only NBA championship, it can sometimes be easy to forget just how dominant the All-NBA wing was with everything on the line.
As Alex points out, Kawhi averaged 30.5 points per game during that postseason. He did it with a 61.9% true shooting mark, but that is not even the most impressive number from this incredible playoff run. Leonard scored at such an efficient clip while also taking a mind-numbing 43% of his shots from the mid-range.
This is an impossibly difficult feat to pull off. Clippers fans can attest as to how impressive this is, given how Leonard put on a similar efficiency clinic two seasons later in the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz. In 11 games that postseason, he was scoring 30.4 points per game while logging a 67.9% true shooting percentage, also on a jumper-heavy shot diet.
Kawhi has undoubtedly had some terrible luck on the injury front these last few years, and it is somewhat understandable for doubters to count him out. But if Leonard is able to enjoy an improved stretch of health going into the 2025 playoffs, no one should be surprised if he puts up another vintage scoring performance and gives the Clippers a fighting chance against any opponent.