Clippers' Major Kawhi Leonard Decision Against Lakers Draws Attention

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Garret Schnitker | Last updated Mar 3, 2025 1:57 PM ET

Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in back-to-back games, falling 108-102 Sunday night and 106-102 Friday night. Leonard led the way for the Clippers Sunday, contributing 33 points and ten rebounds, both season-highs for the six-time NBA All-Star.

After missing the first 34 games of LA’s season due to right knee inflammation, the former 15th pick in the draft out of San Diego State is averaging 17.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game on 46.7% shooting. Leonard is coming off a 2024 season where he achieved his most games played in the regular season (68) since 2017 when he was with the San Antonio Spurs.

Sunday night, the two-time Finals MVP played 40 minutes in an attempt to beat the cross-town rival Lakers. Brian Windhorst on ESPN’s Get Up had quite the statistic on Kawhi’s minutes played.

“Let me tell you how bad the Clippers wanted to win this game," Windhorst said. "They played Kawhi Leonard almost 40 minutes in this game… He hadn’t played that many minutes since November of 2023."

“Let me tell you how badly the clippers wanted to win this game. They played Kawhi Leonard almost 40 mins. He hadn’t played that many minutes Nov 2023” pic.twitter.com/Z500sg5TDq
— LakersGuru (@GuruLakers) March 3, 2025

This was a major decision by Ty Lue and the Clippers' coaching staff, because not only was it the most minutes Leonard has played since 2023, but just the third time this season he has even crossed the 35-minute threshold.

As for the Lakers, they were without star role players Austin Reaves (right calf soreness) and Rui Hachimura (left knee patellar tendinopathy) Sunday night. While LeBron James did not turn in his usual production (17 points on 35% shooting with eight turnovers), Luka Doncic came alive against his former playoff foe. Doncic added 29 points on 53% shooting to match five threes, his most three-pointers made since being traded to the Lakers.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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