‘He’s One Of The Best Players Ever’: LeBron James Gives Kawhi Leonard His Flowers After Lakers Beat Clippers

Leonard is one of the greatest players in NBA history. He’s not in the GOAT debate with James and Michael Jordan, but Leonard has had a legendary career with the San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors and Clippers.

A future Hall of Famer, Leonard is a two-time champion, two-time Finals MVP and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. He was named a top 75 player of all time in 2022. The California native holds career averages of 20.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.6 blocks per game.

Leonard won the 2014 championship with the Spurs and the 2019 title with the Raptors. The swingman joined the Clippers in the offseason of 2019, one year after James signed with the Lakers. The Purple and Gold tried to sign Leonard, but Leonard joined LAC instead, which has turned out to be a mistake.

The Clippers have never been to the NBA Finals. Meanwhile, the Lakers — who have the second-most titles in NBA history — won the 2020 championship against the Miami Heat at the Walt Disney World bubble. LAC had a 3-1 series lead against the Denver Nuggets in the 2020 Western Conference Semifinals, but Leonard and Paul George couldn’t close the series.

James and Leonard have been teammates a few times during All-Star Weekend. The two NBA legends almost shared the floor in the summer of 2024 at the Paris Olympics, but Leonard left Team USA because of an injury.

Leonard will make $50.3 million next season in the final year of his contract with the Clippers, while James becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason for the first time since 2018. It’s unknown whether the NBA’s all-time leading scorer will retire or continue playing.