With the NBA implementing their new player participation policy this season, LA Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were quickly made the face of these new rules. Almost every national media outlet used a picture of those two players for their headlines about the policy, making Leonard and George the face of load management in many ways.
This was unfair from the beginning, since both players have dealt with legitimate injuries over the last several seasons. Both Leonard and George received questions about this policy prior to the season, and gave similar answers about their desire to play every game when healthy, and only ever sitting out when they are not. Backing up that talk this season, both players have missed just two games each.
Speaking with ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk last week, Leonard gave a hilarious reaction to the load management critics from the summer, saying, "We should sue for -- what do they call it? -- negligence."
Leonard certainly has a point, since so many national media outlets and reporters ignored the legitimate injury history of himself and George, creating a narrative that the two stars simply pick and choose when they want to play. Disproving that narrative this season, George has missed just one game for an illness and another for a hip injury, and Leonard has missed just two games - both due to a hip contusion.
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