Is Clippers' Kawhi Leonard no longer a factor in the NBA?

The 2024-25 NBA season is underway and Kawhi Leonard was not on the court Wednesday for the Los Angeles Clippers' opener against the Phoenix Suns. Los Angeles lost by three in overtime, 116-113, but the bigger story was Leonard’s absence.

Already owning the moniker as king of load management, Leonard’s time in L.A. has been one littered with what fans would call unfulfilled promises and shattered dreams. At one time Leonard was considered a top-five player in the Association after leading the Toronto Raptors to their first NBA title and winning his second Finals MVP.

Since arriving to L.A. in 2019, it’s been an up-and-down rollercoaster ride for Clippers fans when it comes to Leonard. His star would soar then it would dim due to some type of injury. At 33 years old, you really have to question whether Leonard is still a factor in the NBA. When he plays, he can still impact a game greatly, but the problem is he seems to have long stretches every year where he does not suit up.

It’s one of the most overused cliches but availability really is the best ability. As great as Leonard can be, that does the Clippers no good when he’s missing 20-30 games in a season. In fairness to Leonard, he did play in 68 games for the Clippers last year but that was his highest regular-season total since his San Antonio days.

Sometimes criticism of Leonard and other players may be a little unfair as the teams are the reason, they may sit out a random Tuesday night game on the road. NBA franchises have taken to sitting guys for “rest” in an attempt to keep them healthy for the stretch run and postseason.

League commissioner Adam Silver has tried for years to put an end to load management, but teams and players continue to do as they please. Silver’s Player Participation Policy was introduced last season to cut down on players taking rest days when not injured but that seemed to have been forgotten by midseason.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid stated before the season he’d probably never play in back-to-back games again. That wasn’t meant just for this season but for the rest of his career according to Embiid. He did add “probably” but the fact that he said that aloud likely made Silver hang his head in disgust.

One thing is for sure, you’d never hear Leonard say anything like that. And no one is saying Leonard isn’t actually injured as his knee issues over the years are well documented. But from the outside, it feels like the team and Leonard may be a bit overly cautious. 

It’s hard to say since this is an injury that has persisted since late last season when Leonard missed the final eight regular season games and all of the playoffs.

Although Leonard will likely be remembered as an all-time great for his contributions in San Antonio and Toronto especially, it’s hard to view him in the same class as the current crop of top NBA performers. The reason is that he’s in and out of the lineup and is currently expected to miss “weeks” at the start of a new NBA season.