A cryptic yet well-produced video featuring Kawhi Leonard appeared on social media on December 27. The LA Clippers star is shown driving to a lake, listening to a voicemail from someone urging him to attend to numerous tasks and responsibilities – recovery, family matters, media commitments. He presses his lips together, gazing down at the phone interrupting his peaceful escape.
As the voicemail continues, he exits his car, spots a fisherman, and approaches him.
Sitting beside a white bucket containing a basketball and a small stereo, the fisherman casts his line into the water`s surface.
We`ve got exciting news coming out of Los Angeles,
the radio softly states. The fisherman increases the volume.
Kawhi Leonard looks to be returning to the court pretty soon. Could be great …
“I knew I could find you here,” Leonard says to the fisherman. “You catch anything?”
Beneath a bucket hat, the fisherman is revealed to be another version of Leonard. He replies, “Nah, not yet. There`s been good days. There`s been bad days. But I keep coming back.”
“It`s the nature of the game.”
This type of advertisement is clearly designed to generate buzz. And this one successfully reminded people that Leonard was still present, working diligently behind the scenes, and potentially nearing a return after missing nearly four months due to his latest right knee injury.
However, following so many injury comebacks over his six seasons with the Clippers, it was uncertain where things truly stood with Leonard`s health or how long any return would last.
A week later, Leonard did make his return. In the subsequent 37 games he played before the season`s end, the Clippers achieved a 26-11 record – a pace equivalent to 58 wins over a full season. They climbed from sixth place in the competitive Western Conference to finish tied for the third-best record. During this stretch, Leonard averaged 21.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and nearly 2 steals, shooting 41% from beyond the arc.
He has been electric, and even more dominant through the initial two games of the playoffs.
His performance in the Clippers` 105-102 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night in Game 2 of their first-round series evoked memories of his incredibly efficient and devastating brilliance during the Toronto Raptors` 2019 championship run.
He connected on nearly every shot attempt, scoring 39 points on 15-for-19 shooting, even while facing intense and swarming defense from the Nuggets.
“He made tough shots,” Nuggets star Nikola Jokic commented on Leonard. “But are they really tough shots for him, a guy who`s been making those for such a long time?”
Through the first two games of this series, Leonard is averaging 30.5 points, shooting an exceptional 71% from the field (24-for-34), including 50% on 3-pointers (5-for-10). He has been equally impactful on the defensive end. In Game 1, as the primary defender, he limited opponents to 2-of-5 shooting (40%). In Game 2, he held opponents to just 2-of-12 (16.7%).
This represents a glimpse of the Leonard the Clippers envisioned acquiring six years ago.
Yet, he has participated in only 266 out of a potential 492 regular-season games (54%) since joining the team in one of the most significant free-agent moves in recent NBA history.
He has seemingly suffered injuries at the most detrimental moments – right after stretches of spectacular play that bolstered the Clippers` belief in their vision, and precisely at the most critical junctures of the year, the playoffs, where he has historically excelled.
In 2021, he tore an ACL during a second-round series against the Utah Jazz. While LA managed to conclude the series without him, they lacked the necessary firepower to overcome the Phoenix Suns in the conference finals. In 2023, he suffered a torn meniscus in the first round. Last season, he attempted to play in LA`s first-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks, but his knee inflammation did not respond favorably to treatment, forcing the team to sideline him.
These injuries, combined with the arduous and often private rehabilitation and load management undertaken by both him and the Clippers, have largely defined his story. His career trajectory has led many to consider him one of modern basketball`s prominent “what-ifs.”
And when Paul George departed as a free agent last summer, it felt like that story was reaching its conclusion.
However, the video Leonard released on December 27 presented an entirely new narrative. One that perhaps people weren`t ready to fully accept at the time, or, frankly, one the Clippers and their fanbase might still be hesitant to completely embrace.
“I keep coming back,” Leonard stated in the video.
It`s a simple message carrying profound meaning. And it`s something Leonard`s teammate James Harden believes he deserves more recognition for. “He loves to hoop,” Harden remarked.
If he didn`t possess that passion, Harden explained, he wouldn`t be capable of enduring the endless hours of rehabilitation, strengthening, and conditioning required to recover from the types of injuries he has faced over the years.
“I feel like that about everybody that`s in the league that goes through something that is out of their hands, where they can`t control, it`s always the negative,” Harden said. “That`s something we got to live with, I guess, in the world. But as for me, being close to him every single day and seeing the work that he puts in, you appreciate him.”
That, according to Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, is the narrative he hopes people will now focus on, as Leonard has somehow managed to return to peak form just in time for a playoff push.
“This is what Kawhi lives for,” Lue said. “He`s healthy for the playoffs, and we know when we got a healthy Kawhi, we can win any series.”
Naturally, there`s no guarantee how long Leonard can sustain this level. He and the Clippers have been meticulous and disciplined in their strategy this season, completely disregarding any public or private pressure to rush his return from an offseason cleanup surgery.
This approach stands in direct contrast to last season, when the Clippers and Leonard faced pressure due to the league`s new player participation policy and the 65-game minimum requirement for league awards.
This year, the sole priority was ensuring he reached the end of the season healthy and in optimal condition for a playoff run. He sat out the first four months, gradually building strength and meeting set benchmarks before attempting further activity.
Upon his eventual return in early January, the Clippers imposed strict minute restrictions, even keeping him out of game-closing lineups. While this might appear unclear or frustrating to external observers, the nature of Leonard`s chronic knee issues necessitates such measures. At this stage, it`s not just one injury he`s recovering from – it`s the cumulative effect of multiple issues, each leaving inflammation and scar tissue. The impact is cumulative, not singular.
He experiences “good days and bad days,” as he mentions in the video. The condition of his knees is inherently unpredictable.
“It`s the nature of the game,” he says. Leonard has learned to coexist with this uncertainty. “I`m just happy to be able to move,” he commented after Game 2. The challenge for everyone else is learning to accept this reality as well.
“I sat and watched these playoff games and series the past two years,” Leonard stated. “So being able to be front-line out there, it just feels good for me no matter which way the game goes. That`s what I`m taking pride in. I just want to be out there and play and be on the front line with my team.”
A week after releasing the initial video by the lake, Leonard shared part two.
Carrying a tackle box and fishing rod, he walks towards the shoreline. Birds are heard flying and chirping overhead. The stereo is playing.
When is he going to play? … Is he really hurt? What`s going on here?
“You hear them?” Leonard asks. “They like to come and watch the fun — and chirp.”
“But when I show up, they always quiet.”
