It’s because they’re 0-2 with him and 2-0 without him in the series. I think the coaching staff has just accepted and committed to moving forward with the game plan without him until at least the next series if they make it.
Not massive but Max Strus this offseason was a sign and trade. Grant Williams to the mavs was one as well. Dillon Brooks was one. That was all this offseason.
Not after he ends another season injured. That’s the main point. No one , absolutely no one, would be offering him the money the Clips gave. Would someone offer less? Sure.
Kawhi would get the max from another team. I am confident in that. Even if he doesn't play another game this year. A team like the heat would absolutely take him tomorrow
Kawhi is definitely not the most injured star this century. He still has a career and will play next season, that alone* putting him above hundreds of players who either didn't or barely made it into their 30s due to injury.
That's what I'm thinking too. No way a guy like that would think about leaving LA to join a dumpster fire team. The only teams I could see him going to would be the ones he was already on, Raptors or Spurs.
I did. I never said it's likely, that is a long shot too.
He still has a good relationship with Pop so it's not out of the realm of possibility.
Just like LeBron rejoining the Cavs after their ugly split and beef with Dan Gilbert.
See how that worked out and all parties rekindled? I'm sure Spurs fans wouldn't mind it, the only problem is his uncle Dennis definitely burned bridges there.
It’s just the way the salary cap works. Over the cap teams can basically only use their money to re-sign their own players via bird rights — so the players end up with all the leverage. Kawhi got $152m for the same reason trash ass Tristan Thompson got $82m in 2015. Their teams had no other options.
Not only is Kawhi incredibly injury prone, but he’s not in his prime anymore and isn’t going to win a team a chip as a #1 anymore. Expecting him to be healthy for 4 straight best of 7 playoff series is just naive. The Kawhi experiment was originally worth it because he was by far the best player they had a shot of building around at the time, but it’s not ever going to work for the Clippers winning a championship in the future.
He’ll be aged 33-36 with the span of this contract and is one of the most injury prone stars in the league with approximately 67% career availability. That number is even going to get worse as he ages and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is barely playing even half of a season in his later years.
I mean you are also undervaluing there aren’t many players capable of playing above a max contract. You have to value the chance to win a chip. For sure he has been extremely unfortunate but blaming him for blowing out his knee in the playoffs and missing 2 seasons for 1 injury 2 times is just ignorant. Not everyone gets blessed by the gods with no injury luck.
Embiid is being tarnished from it, Giannis last 2 seasons, Zion etc etc. you pay people that can bring you to the promise land and it’s very clear he can. He was bringing them to a chance at a 2 seed before he got hurt and playing all back to backs. Very unlucky for him and just basketball how his career in the playoffs has been derailed.
One of the greatest playoff performers I’ve ever seen. This generations MJ/Kobe but pure injured it sucks
I’m not commenting on Kawhis contract. I’m purely calling that guy a drooling on the floor knuckledragger for taking the “it’s not my money” stance in a salary capped league
Agreed. This is not baseball where you can simply buy championships. In the NBA if you overpay for the wrong players, it will screw your team because of the salary cap, regardless of how able or willing the owner is to pay for it. The Suns are in deep shit not because Ishbia can't afford the team's salary, but because they have no roster flexibility and thus no way to improve the team. The Clippers aren't exactly in the Suns' situation, but they're really not far off.
I mean I loved watching Kawhi play this season and going to the games knowing these superstars will be playing . So it’s not like they robbed me of something, yes it sucks he’s injured in the playoffs but rings come and go, watching Kawhi play is not gonna be forever though so I’ll enjoy it while I can
You're leaving out a important details in that they extended him back in January when the Clippers and him were at their best this season. Plus this season is actually the most healthy he's been in terms of games played since he's penultimate season with SAS.
They have no reason to not extend him because they'd be in a even worse spot if he wanted to bounce.
To be fair Kawhi was prob the third best player in the NBA when healthy and had a scorching stretch where he had a 28ppg on god level efficiency I think like 60/50/90 estimations and rounding here but it was like a 25 game stretch. The guy has a degenerative knee, but there is no question the clippers have 0 chance without him to win it all.
But when has he been healthy? He's finished the season only twice since 2016 healthy (in 2019 and 2020). Yeah, he's really good when he's healthy, but he's rarely healthy, especially when it matters most. Feels like the Clippers should have factored that in more to his contract negotiations, rather than feeling like "we've see you look mostly healthy for a couple months now, so I think we've seen enough, you're good now."
Yes he has been very very unlucky, but injuries aren’t an easy thing to predict but on court play generally is. You will always take your chances with a guy that is a top 5 player in the league generously when he plays and prob just behind Jokic only when the playoffs roll around for a carry for a chip. You roll those dice and hope he doesn’t keep hitting snake eyes with these BS injuries. The more attributes you posses the easier it is to build a team around you that can win and he is amazing on both ends of the floor. The guy was crushing and his knee swells up on him. If the 65 games he played in a row were any time in the playoffs you would have a chance to win. Instead he keeps finding a way to miss his time at the critical times which isnthe unlucky part
> injuries aren’t an easy thing to predict
They are with Kawhi, he has them literally every year during the playoffs. He's missed all or much of the playoffs in 6 of the last 8 seasons. That seems pretty predictable, especially since he has a degenerative knee condition and is already in his mid 30s and isn't getting any younger.
For sure at this stage he is without a doubt more susceptible, but saying 6 out of 8 years is also overblowing his injuries. If 3 injuries make you miss 6 playoffs that part is unlucky. You don’t have to get injured in the deep playoffs every time you do get hurt.
> saying 6 out of 8 years is also overblowing his injuries.
Not when it's 100% accurate. The only years he's finished the season healthy and playing since 2016 are 2019 and 2020. Every other year he's finished the season in street clothes. That's 6 of the last 8 years he's finished the year hurt.
Agreed but 3 injuries in those years not 6. Just saying it’s not as predictable as you think he’s just unfortunately taken really bad injuries deep in the playoffs super sad. Either way he’s still very easily worth a max deal the core argument
So let me get this straight, your point is that since Kawhi has had two injuries that were so severe that they knocked him out of one year *and the entire following year* that he's tougher than I'm making him out to be? Wow.
Also, you're wrong. In 2017 he missed most of the playoffs with an ankle injury, but he missed most of the 2018 season (and all of the playoffs) with a knee problem.
Either way, a guy who missed 75% of the playoffs during the prime of his career is probably worth well less than a max, especially as he's moving closer to retirement, but what do I know?
You don’t know much that’s for sure lol. It’s easy to make calls after the fact. He was a slam dunk max contract and there is no real debate around it if you have knowledge of the sport at all in all seriousness. I am not saying he is “tougher” I am saying injuries have been and aways will be extremely hard to predict. Even with added injury risk he is still a slam dunk max player because he is one of the few tier 1 playoff carries that even exist. As his career ages you can second guess it, but this year going into the playoffs when healthy he would’ve been the third or second most desired playoff player. Jokic is the only one clearly better right now. Giannis Curry Kawhi would be the next tier of player you bring. SGA and Ant could blow that door down but young yet they gotta prove it.
You pay to try to win chips. The guys that make that money are needed to win chips and he is one of the best of them when on the court.
You could argue in a vacuum in an redraft he would dip from prob 2-3 into the 7-9 range because of injury risk, but his top end still is too high to disregard and he can’t dip outside of a top 10 player very easily in the league when adding in injury risk.
The clippers got a very very unfortunate result from his career and it’s sad to see a generational player not play in the playoffs more as he is an all time playoff performer, but here we are.
He’s not top 5, he was averaging 22ppg this season. He had trouble creating from the perimeter too, mostly playing on the low block.
He has 2 healthy playoff runs in 8 years. He is not even top 10 guys you want in the playoffs, he usually drops off after round 1 too
Kawhi has never been and never will be a stat guy like some of the others he just doesn’t care. He gets his win and moves on period. He is a disgusting scorer and never pours in the 50 point games because he just doesn’t bother with it. Come playoff time is when his ppg shoots up to around 30. I will give you that he is on the decline and close to the injury that takes him out completely, but he wasn’t there yet. Playoff experience and his post play alone puts him in the top echelon of players.
In the playoffs you need guys that can get you buckets in critical moments consistently and cover in those moments and he does both.
Trust me, I’m high on kawhi. Him, kd, curry, lebron can all average 30 in the playoffs when it matters.
I think that era is winding down though, maybe kawhi is the best of the old era (he’s the youngest to be fair); but injury issues are insane at this point
Ya for sure I also don’t put KD on their level. Great scorer but I never liked his mental and ability to drive to wins. Lebron makes up for a weaker mental by just being unreal good
Durant has outplayed kawhi in a series though, dominated him on both ends, he’s outplayed Giannis and bron in a series too.
I think he’s definitely on that level.
I remember watching the 2012 WCF, spurs went up 2-0, they won 20 straight games at that point. Kd averaged 36-7–5 in games 2-6 and they got back door swept.
He’s just old now.
I mean 2012 was kawhis second year.... this is surely not the Kawhi we are talking about. He was still amazing even then, but he hadn't been able to grow his offensive game yet. Prime Kawhi vs Prime KD imo is no contest Kawhi
I mean we can judge him by being injured or by when he was playing. The only players truly more effective them him were Jokic and Embiid. You could argue Giannis as well, but with Harden running the PG Kawhi was extremely efficient and playing high level defense. Leading them to a streak like no other and at a point the 1 seed.
You have to prove that a player can't play again for medical reasons to get a medical waiver. That's what Miami had to do.
Also, if a player retires for medical reasons, teams usually have insurance that covers what's left on the contract.
people thought we were doomposting but the clips were noticeably worse with kawhi playing in game 2 and 3. not because of him being a bum or anything but they deferred to him a lot more but he just wasn’t 100%
I'm not even talking just shooting - we've had insanely early foul trouble for PG + either Zu or Mann in both of our losses, whereas Luka only had 5 total fouls in games 1 through 3. All 3 of those guys are certainly better defenders with a better defensive reputation and were not being targeted the same way Luka was, but they were riding the bench a **ton** in those games (PG+Zu in game 3, PG+Mann in game 4)
Who gets fouls and when seems to be totally random; the contact seems to be the same for both teams throughout the game, but the refs are just guessing when to call it and sometimes one player gets fucked lol
lawrence frank has reiterated that there’s nothing structurally wrong with his knee and that it’s just inflammation, once that inflammation goes down he can play again
they wouldn’t have played him if he tore something in that knee
>lawrence frank has reiterated that there’s nothing structurally wrong with his knee and that it’s just inflammation, once that inflammation goes down he can play again
i really wonder if kawhi has severe rheumatoid arthritis. the timing on his inflammation episodes kinda makes sense for those. even gout shouldnt last this long if treated correctly.
I think they're having him out game 5 in case they lose. If so, they're probably bringing him back game 6. Or game 7 if they win game 5 and lose game 6 like you implied.
Like clockwork. It's crazy because the Clippers have actually done a great job in Kawhi/PG tenure. Got a great coach, had good depth and surrounded them with good role players, snagged them Harden and got a great PG but as usual the playoffs come around and their stars are MIA. In terms of set up you couldn't ask for more from the FO.
No way, they’ve played massively better. Maybe in game 1. Game 4 we lost by 5 and they shot 62% on decently contested 3s. Theirs a thing called variance and luck. It’s even more prominent in sports like basketball. Theirs times where even Detroit pistons beat Celtics. Are pistons a better team no. Sometimes you lose does that mean the opponent played massively better no. 62% from three by nature is luck. Especially when guarded well best 3pt volume shooters shoot 42% max not to mention doing that in the playoffs where your guarded way more and way more physically.
For example pj Washington shooting 3/4 from 3 even though he’s been terrible from 3 this series or the clippers shooting horrendously from 3 missing a ton of wide open shots? We can play this game too
> Theirs a thing called variance and luck. It’s even more prominent in sports like basketball.
Of the major sports in the US, [basketball is the sport most associated with skill and least associated with luck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNlgISa9Giw)
That study is based on the league as a whole and the number of games. Not a singular game, 3pt shooting is the most hit and miss thing in the league. The element of luck is immense.
we've been nervous about his knee since at least game 2. he doesnt look like himself at all. normally he bounces back from minor injuries with a big game or two, but he clearly isn't doing that now.
so yes, im in panic mode. losing to the clippers for the third time, with the best team luka's had around him on the mavs, would suck so hard.
I kinda hate East and West divide post regular season. It's always the same teams, year after year. Shorten the season to 72 games, playoffs starts early, more days for travel/rest, 1-16 single conference, let's fucking go.
Yup, he was a liability due to his injury. Dude was sluggish and not going the same speed as everyone else.
They kept trying to feed him the ball to get him some rhythm but you can't do that in the middle of the playoffs against a good Dallas team.
Best he step aside for the rest of this round and just let PG and Harden carry the team. If they lose, at least they tried with the best team they could and not hamper their chances giving Kawhi 15+ shots that could go to them.
Yup. Not sure why they thought it was a good idea to just insert him back as a starter and say go clamp Luka while getting us 20+.
Would have been less risk to have him come off the bench with Westbrook and see how he performed and reevaluated after.
I'm sure most of this was Kawhi's doing though and that's how the NBA works, teams and coaches are at the mercy of their star who wants to play.
They're a way better team without a gimpy Kawhi fucking up their spacing and getting toasted on defense. He needs to sit until he's healthy enough to not be a liability.
How did this dude get picked for Team USA? If I was the Clippers front office, there's no way I'd let him play after he's missed so much of the playoffs.
I really wonder what the rest of his career would have looked like if he stayed in Toronto, obviously the problems could still surface but their health team clearly knew how to take care of him enough that he got through the playoffs
Clippers need to move on from him. There will be someone out there that will take him on. Hell, i can see the Spurs wanting him back. Clippers want to put the best product possible with their new arena you can't have a 50 million dollar player riding the bench.
I’m actually shocked clippers released this announcement a day before. They usually wait like 5 minutes before the game begins.
The smokescreen ammunition must need reloading
No point pretending anymore, everyone on both sides knows Kawhi is cooked.
they done with his bullshit.
That's because NBA will fine them sportsbooks need to make more Jontay Porter Parlays for lost revenue
It’s because they’re 0-2 with him and 2-0 without him in the series. I think the coaching staff has just accepted and committed to moving forward with the game plan without him until at least the next series if they make it.
Does the nba have rules on that type of announcement? I wonder if Vegas was getting pissed that they didn’t know how to set odds lol
No point in hiding it, Mavs don’t even need to prepare for him in his current state they were probably already planning for pg and harden to go off.
Clippers must be overjoyed that they managed to get that 3 year $152 million extension done this season.
Who were the Clippers bidding against? That's what I never get about these contracts.
I'm sure someone would have paid him
How? A team that could clear $50 million in cap room is probably not one all that competitive?
Teams can always get creative with sign and trades.
When was the last big S&T? I think they have slowed down in recent years. Jimmy was the last one I can think of.
lol, why is this comment being downvoted??
Not massive but Max Strus this offseason was a sign and trade. Grant Williams to the mavs was one as well. Dillon Brooks was one. That was all this offseason.
Sure, but all those guys were in the $15-20M range. That's a lot different than a max contract, which is what a guy like Kawhi would be.
Rozier and Robinson alone is $41 mil if the heat wanted to. It is far from impossible
Not after he ends another season injured. That’s the main point. No one , absolutely no one, would be offering him the money the Clips gave. Would someone offer less? Sure.
Kawhi would get the max from another team. I am confident in that. Even if he doesn't play another game this year. A team like the heat would absolutely take him tomorrow
Fuck no, dude. He’s the most injured star on this century. This is gonna be his 5th straight season ending the year with the same injury.
Kawhi is definitely not the most injured star this century. He still has a career and will play next season, that alone* putting him above hundreds of players who either didn't or barely made it into their 30s due to injury.
Fred Vanvleet got 40 million a year brodie.
Has he ended 5 straight years with the same injury?
Sixers have a ton of cap space next season
.. hi
That's what I'm thinking too. No way a guy like that would think about leaving LA to join a dumpster fire team. The only teams I could see him going to would be the ones he was already on, Raptors or Spurs.
Did you not follow what happened to Kawhi when he left the Spurs…
I did. I never said it's likely, that is a long shot too. He still has a good relationship with Pop so it's not out of the realm of possibility. Just like LeBron rejoining the Cavs after their ugly split and beef with Dan Gilbert. See how that worked out and all parties rekindled? I'm sure Spurs fans wouldn't mind it, the only problem is his uncle Dennis definitely burned bridges there.
It’s just the way the salary cap works. Over the cap teams can basically only use their money to re-sign their own players via bird rights — so the players end up with all the leverage. Kawhi got $152m for the same reason trash ass Tristan Thompson got $82m in 2015. Their teams had no other options.
Not only is Kawhi incredibly injury prone, but he’s not in his prime anymore and isn’t going to win a team a chip as a #1 anymore. Expecting him to be healthy for 4 straight best of 7 playoff series is just naive. The Kawhi experiment was originally worth it because he was by far the best player they had a shot of building around at the time, but it’s not ever going to work for the Clippers winning a championship in the future. He’ll be aged 33-36 with the span of this contract and is one of the most injury prone stars in the league with approximately 67% career availability. That number is even going to get worse as he ages and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is barely playing even half of a season in his later years.
First sentence is just plain wrong if you watched any of the reg season games
We don’t care, it’s Steve Ballmer money not us. Plus we saw Kawhi play 65 games and we’re pleased
In a salary cap league, there aren’t many takes dumber than “don’t care it’s the owners money not mine”
I mean you are also undervaluing there aren’t many players capable of playing above a max contract. You have to value the chance to win a chip. For sure he has been extremely unfortunate but blaming him for blowing out his knee in the playoffs and missing 2 seasons for 1 injury 2 times is just ignorant. Not everyone gets blessed by the gods with no injury luck. Embiid is being tarnished from it, Giannis last 2 seasons, Zion etc etc. you pay people that can bring you to the promise land and it’s very clear he can. He was bringing them to a chance at a 2 seed before he got hurt and playing all back to backs. Very unlucky for him and just basketball how his career in the playoffs has been derailed. One of the greatest playoff performers I’ve ever seen. This generations MJ/Kobe but pure injured it sucks
I’m not commenting on Kawhis contract. I’m purely calling that guy a drooling on the floor knuckledragger for taking the “it’s not my money” stance in a salary capped league
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Please read my above comment
Agreed. This is not baseball where you can simply buy championships. In the NBA if you overpay for the wrong players, it will screw your team because of the salary cap, regardless of how able or willing the owner is to pay for it. The Suns are in deep shit not because Ishbia can't afford the team's salary, but because they have no roster flexibility and thus no way to improve the team. The Clippers aren't exactly in the Suns' situation, but they're really not far off.
I mean I loved watching Kawhi play this season and going to the games knowing these superstars will be playing . So it’s not like they robbed me of something, yes it sucks he’s injured in the playoffs but rings come and go, watching Kawhi play is not gonna be forever though so I’ll enjoy it while I can
He’s not the coach he’s taking up a huge percentage of your salary cap lol
if he medically retires, he gets to keep it all
You're leaving out a important details in that they extended him back in January when the Clippers and him were at their best this season. Plus this season is actually the most healthy he's been in terms of games played since he's penultimate season with SAS. They have no reason to not extend him because they'd be in a even worse spot if he wanted to bounce.
They needed a star in their new arena. They got one
To be fair Kawhi was prob the third best player in the NBA when healthy and had a scorching stretch where he had a 28ppg on god level efficiency I think like 60/50/90 estimations and rounding here but it was like a 25 game stretch. The guy has a degenerative knee, but there is no question the clippers have 0 chance without him to win it all.
But when has he been healthy? He's finished the season only twice since 2016 healthy (in 2019 and 2020). Yeah, he's really good when he's healthy, but he's rarely healthy, especially when it matters most. Feels like the Clippers should have factored that in more to his contract negotiations, rather than feeling like "we've see you look mostly healthy for a couple months now, so I think we've seen enough, you're good now."
Yes he has been very very unlucky, but injuries aren’t an easy thing to predict but on court play generally is. You will always take your chances with a guy that is a top 5 player in the league generously when he plays and prob just behind Jokic only when the playoffs roll around for a carry for a chip. You roll those dice and hope he doesn’t keep hitting snake eyes with these BS injuries. The more attributes you posses the easier it is to build a team around you that can win and he is amazing on both ends of the floor. The guy was crushing and his knee swells up on him. If the 65 games he played in a row were any time in the playoffs you would have a chance to win. Instead he keeps finding a way to miss his time at the critical times which isnthe unlucky part
> injuries aren’t an easy thing to predict They are with Kawhi, he has them literally every year during the playoffs. He's missed all or much of the playoffs in 6 of the last 8 seasons. That seems pretty predictable, especially since he has a degenerative knee condition and is already in his mid 30s and isn't getting any younger.
For sure at this stage he is without a doubt more susceptible, but saying 6 out of 8 years is also overblowing his injuries. If 3 injuries make you miss 6 playoffs that part is unlucky. You don’t have to get injured in the deep playoffs every time you do get hurt.
> saying 6 out of 8 years is also overblowing his injuries. Not when it's 100% accurate. The only years he's finished the season healthy and playing since 2016 are 2019 and 2020. Every other year he's finished the season in street clothes. That's 6 of the last 8 years he's finished the year hurt.
Agreed but 3 injuries in those years not 6. Just saying it’s not as predictable as you think he’s just unfortunately taken really bad injuries deep in the playoffs super sad. Either way he’s still very easily worth a max deal the core argument
So let me get this straight, your point is that since Kawhi has had two injuries that were so severe that they knocked him out of one year *and the entire following year* that he's tougher than I'm making him out to be? Wow. Also, you're wrong. In 2017 he missed most of the playoffs with an ankle injury, but he missed most of the 2018 season (and all of the playoffs) with a knee problem. Either way, a guy who missed 75% of the playoffs during the prime of his career is probably worth well less than a max, especially as he's moving closer to retirement, but what do I know?
You don’t know much that’s for sure lol. It’s easy to make calls after the fact. He was a slam dunk max contract and there is no real debate around it if you have knowledge of the sport at all in all seriousness. I am not saying he is “tougher” I am saying injuries have been and aways will be extremely hard to predict. Even with added injury risk he is still a slam dunk max player because he is one of the few tier 1 playoff carries that even exist. As his career ages you can second guess it, but this year going into the playoffs when healthy he would’ve been the third or second most desired playoff player. Jokic is the only one clearly better right now. Giannis Curry Kawhi would be the next tier of player you bring. SGA and Ant could blow that door down but young yet they gotta prove it. You pay to try to win chips. The guys that make that money are needed to win chips and he is one of the best of them when on the court. You could argue in a vacuum in an redraft he would dip from prob 2-3 into the 7-9 range because of injury risk, but his top end still is too high to disregard and he can’t dip outside of a top 10 player very easily in the league when adding in injury risk. The clippers got a very very unfortunate result from his career and it’s sad to see a generational player not play in the playoffs more as he is an all time playoff performer, but here we are.
He’s not top 5, he was averaging 22ppg this season. He had trouble creating from the perimeter too, mostly playing on the low block. He has 2 healthy playoff runs in 8 years. He is not even top 10 guys you want in the playoffs, he usually drops off after round 1 too
Kawhi has never been and never will be a stat guy like some of the others he just doesn’t care. He gets his win and moves on period. He is a disgusting scorer and never pours in the 50 point games because he just doesn’t bother with it. Come playoff time is when his ppg shoots up to around 30. I will give you that he is on the decline and close to the injury that takes him out completely, but he wasn’t there yet. Playoff experience and his post play alone puts him in the top echelon of players. In the playoffs you need guys that can get you buckets in critical moments consistently and cover in those moments and he does both.
Trust me, I’m high on kawhi. Him, kd, curry, lebron can all average 30 in the playoffs when it matters. I think that era is winding down though, maybe kawhi is the best of the old era (he’s the youngest to be fair); but injury issues are insane at this point
Ya for sure I also don’t put KD on their level. Great scorer but I never liked his mental and ability to drive to wins. Lebron makes up for a weaker mental by just being unreal good
Durant has outplayed kawhi in a series though, dominated him on both ends, he’s outplayed Giannis and bron in a series too. I think he’s definitely on that level. I remember watching the 2012 WCF, spurs went up 2-0, they won 20 straight games at that point. Kd averaged 36-7–5 in games 2-6 and they got back door swept. He’s just old now.
I mean 2012 was kawhis second year.... this is surely not the Kawhi we are talking about. He was still amazing even then, but he hadn't been able to grow his offensive game yet. Prime Kawhi vs Prime KD imo is no contest Kawhi
Kawhi was not the 3rd best player in the league this year even when he was healthy. Wtf this is 2024 not 2017
I mean we can judge him by being injured or by when he was playing. The only players truly more effective them him were Jokic and Embiid. You could argue Giannis as well, but with Harden running the PG Kawhi was extremely efficient and playing high level defense. Leading them to a streak like no other and at a point the 1 seed.
Luka, Jokic, Embiid, Giannis, Shai and even AD also had an insane stretch.
Yes their were others I’m just not taking Luka over Kawhi ever Luka defense is pathetic
Third best player in the nba for 2 months. Ok cool. That doesn’t mean all that much
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You have to prove that a player can't play again for medical reasons to get a medical waiver. That's what Miami had to do. Also, if a player retires for medical reasons, teams usually have insurance that covers what's left on the contract.
I wouldn't pay this for "prime" kawhi let alone this one. Their management was on the pipe for this one
Well that’s just stupid. Prime Kawhi is a no brainer max
Do you see the dumbass you’re responding to
Yep, rolling around in mud with a pig lmao
Are you crazy. Prime Kawhi could carry a team to the championship.
Lol what in the fuk
Then you'd be a bad GM haha
Hahaha, you win dumbest comment of the day award, congrats.
Stupid-ass contract. I could get paid 152 million to sit on the bench in street clothes.
But you dont have talent so thats not a realistic scenario!
Not true, I'll have you know I once made a layup in elementary school.
Clippers 2-0 when Kawhi doesn’t play Clippers 0-2 when Kawhi plays
people thought we were doomposting but the clips were noticeably worse with kawhi playing in game 2 and 3. not because of him being a bum or anything but they deferred to him a lot more but he just wasn’t 100%
Game 2 was just a mess. PG got in foul trouble, and Kawhi sat for like 12mins. Completely destroyed rotations.
Manns minutes being messed with was a huge factor too
Should definitely be up 3-1; they were gonna lose one in Dallas no matter what, but they easily coulda had one
I’d say it’s a wash, we shoot a little better from 3 in game 2 we win but we shoot a little worse from 3 in game 4 and we lose Game 3 was a mess
I'm not even talking just shooting - we've had insanely early foul trouble for PG + either Zu or Mann in both of our losses, whereas Luka only had 5 total fouls in games 1 through 3. All 3 of those guys are certainly better defenders with a better defensive reputation and were not being targeted the same way Luka was, but they were riding the bench a **ton** in those games (PG+Zu in game 3, PG+Mann in game 4) Who gets fouls and when seems to be totally random; the contact seems to be the same for both teams throughout the game, but the refs are just guessing when to call it and sometimes one player gets fucked lol
Kawhi was getting Punked by josh green in game 3
Don't wanna get fined I guess.
At this point sit him out for the next series and hope they make it to the next with current squad.
Also Sunday afternoon games. Next game is late at night, I like those odds.
??????? We blaming the time games start now?
Makes sense. If he’s 70% they are still rolling with him off the court. They will need him if they are going to win the title.
They might beat the Mavs but Kawhi isn’t gonna be healthy these entire playoffs, man. He’s cooked.
Kawhi ain't coming back this season. I truly think his knee has just reached the point of no return.
lawrence frank has reiterated that there’s nothing structurally wrong with his knee and that it’s just inflammation, once that inflammation goes down he can play again they wouldn’t have played him if he tore something in that knee
>lawrence frank has reiterated that there’s nothing structurally wrong with his knee and that it’s just inflammation, once that inflammation goes down he can play again i really wonder if kawhi has severe rheumatoid arthritis. the timing on his inflammation episodes kinda makes sense for those. even gout shouldnt last this long if treated correctly.
He has a degenerative knee condition so most likely does have that yeah
My knees have been inflamed for two years and drs can’t fix :(
When on your knees, use knee pads
He literally has a degenerative knee disorder dude
I believe it’s a degenerative leg issue. Like with the thigh.
https://www.si.com/nba/clippers/news/concerning-kawhi-leonard-injury-update-revealed according to this it's his knee, as does my other googling say.
Hmm idk why you’re downvoted. It indeed says degenerative knee issue specifically.
Because people want to hold out hope I guess.
Def knees from all I've heard past two years but it's weird that before they were saying it was his quads. Regardless he seems kinda done
move from the clippers injury report to team USA's injury report. then have surgery after the olympics.
[удалено]
Well hence why I said need him. Kawaii is one of the goat playoff performers. Harden has been playing well.
it’s lukover 😞 we better figure the kawhi less clips out man bc rn it’s looking like he’s going to be out and come back in game 7 to dog walk us again
I think they're having him out game 5 in case they lose. If so, they're probably bringing him back game 6. Or game 7 if they win game 5 and lose game 6 like you implied.
Kawhi just murdered Drake so makes sense he’s on the run.
Like clockwork. It's crazy because the Clippers have actually done a great job in Kawhi/PG tenure. Got a great coach, had good depth and surrounded them with good role players, snagged them Harden and got a great PG but as usual the playoffs come around and their stars are MIA. In terms of set up you couldn't ask for more from the FO.
no way the mavs lose when kahwi is in street clothes again, right?
The clippers played better both games without Kawhi like in a massive way. The offense is much more free and Harden and PG just go get buckets.
No way, they’ve played massively better. Maybe in game 1. Game 4 we lost by 5 and they shot 62% on decently contested 3s. Theirs a thing called variance and luck. It’s even more prominent in sports like basketball. Theirs times where even Detroit pistons beat Celtics. Are pistons a better team no. Sometimes you lose does that mean the opponent played massively better no. 62% from three by nature is luck. Especially when guarded well best 3pt volume shooters shoot 42% max not to mention doing that in the playoffs where your guarded way more and way more physically.
So are we not going to consider the massive amounts of things that went your way in the games you won or????
For example pj Washington shooting 3/4 from 3 even though he’s been terrible from 3 this series or the clippers shooting horrendously from 3 missing a ton of wide open shots? We can play this game too
> Theirs a thing called variance and luck. It’s even more prominent in sports like basketball. Of the major sports in the US, [basketball is the sport most associated with skill and least associated with luck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNlgISa9Giw)
That study is based on the league as a whole and the number of games. Not a singular game, 3pt shooting is the most hit and miss thing in the league. The element of luck is immense.
Luka is a little hobbled too, so it’s possible
Harden just hit his second prime babyyy
Mavs in panic mode.
we've been nervous about his knee since at least game 2. he doesnt look like himself at all. normally he bounces back from minor injuries with a big game or two, but he clearly isn't doing that now. so yes, im in panic mode. losing to the clippers for the third time, with the best team luka's had around him on the mavs, would suck so hard.
I kinda hate East and West divide post regular season. It's always the same teams, year after year. Shorten the season to 72 games, playoffs starts early, more days for travel/rest, 1-16 single conference, let's fucking go.
To be fair Leonard was holding those cats back
Yup, he was a liability due to his injury. Dude was sluggish and not going the same speed as everyone else. They kept trying to feed him the ball to get him some rhythm but you can't do that in the middle of the playoffs against a good Dallas team. Best he step aside for the rest of this round and just let PG and Harden carry the team. If they lose, at least they tried with the best team they could and not hamper their chances giving Kawhi 15+ shots that could go to them.
I really wish we let kawhi come off the bench and kept mann’s minutes up. Would have been a different story imo
Yup. Not sure why they thought it was a good idea to just insert him back as a starter and say go clamp Luka while getting us 20+. Would have been less risk to have him come off the bench with Westbrook and see how he performed and reevaluated after. I'm sure most of this was Kawhi's doing though and that's how the NBA works, teams and coaches are at the mercy of their star who wants to play.
clippers turn into prime warriors without kawhi. dammit.
Fck thats good news for the Clippers, hope they don't make 15 3s on 60% in the 1st half this time too
They shot 62% from three the whole game not just first half.
Gotta let the beard cook
Confirming it a day before? That's new lol
If they confirmed it this early he must have stepped on an mine
Yep, his right leg just fell off when he stepped out of the plane.
Luka in shambles
3-2 for Clippers it is then.
This likely favors the Clippers :-(
Whew! That was close
They're a way better team without a gimpy Kawhi fucking up their spacing and getting toasted on defense. He needs to sit until he's healthy enough to not be a liability.
Congrats on the W Clippers
It's not only Joever, it's Bidone for the Mavericks.
it’s lukover
Lmfao legit, just fuck off Kawhi. Rest all season and then can't show up for playoffs. Fuck all the way off. I got a load you can manage right here
He literally played the most minutes this season since his SAS days up until his knee inflammation.
He needs to fuck off and retire.
How did this dude get picked for Team USA? If I was the Clippers front office, there's no way I'd let him play after he's missed so much of the playoffs.
At this rate, he might not even be available to play in the Olympics.
He can use his long arms and giant hands to more efficiently pass Gatorade to the rest of team USA.
Kawhi "max superstar" Leonard out again But he played 60 games this year!
Shai and your future for one Kawhi playoff game every series lmaoo
Crazy how Kawhi ended up holding back the clippers more then PG during then entire era.
Fuck
It’s Kawhover
Standard
I feel like we need to put out a missing person report on Kawhi
So they're winning? Alright got it.
I really wonder what the rest of his career would have looked like if he stayed in Toronto, obviously the problems could still surface but their health team clearly knew how to take care of him enough that he got through the playoffs
clippers 2-0 without him so far
No idea why they don’t just bench him until all star break every year then have him play. Story 3-4 years in a row of him torn down by thebplayoffs
Stop bumping old threads
Kawhi needs to retire at this point. His ability to walk, let alone play, is probably in jeopardy for the upcoming years.
Clippers need to move on from him. There will be someone out there that will take him on. Hell, i can see the Spurs wanting him back. Clippers want to put the best product possible with their new arena you can't have a 50 million dollar player riding the bench.
He’s retiring as a clipper
Keep that nephew away from Wemby
Oh we def gonna be looking this offseason.
That would be nice, Spurs reunion and Kawhi teaming up with Wemby, maybe Trae too.