By Miguel Mike Medina
Los Angeles Clippers Kawhi Leonard is a superstar in this league. He’s a two-time champion and a two-time Finals MVP. Let’s not forget that he’s a great defensive player. Leonard missed his second straight game against the Phoenix Suns in the first round due to knee problems. He’s having a lousy week because he can’t be on the floor to help his team win, he’s getting bombarded by sports media, and now his sister will be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of an older woman in a Southern California casino in 2019.
Leonard grew up in the Riverside area and developed into a college star at San Diego State. He’s one of the reasons why I started paying attention to the San Diego State College program. This same program went to the NCAA Championship game but lost to UConn. Leonard got drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the 2011 NBA Draft as the 15th overall pick. The Pacers regretted trading him on Draft day to the San Antonio Spurs, where he established himself as one of the top players in the NBA.
Leonard has been through trials and tribulations, as we all do, but his sister going to jail brings more pain to his life because he lost his father in 2018 when he was murdered. It must’ve been bittersweet when he won his first NBA title with the Spurs in 2014 because it landed on Father’s Day.
As for his status in Game 5, we don’t know whether he’s going to suit up or not, but it’s not a good sign that he’s going to play. Kawhi Leonard is not one of these players that will rush back onto the court to play. He doesn’t want to re-injure himself. We love to see him play, but only he knows how he feels. Load management hasn’t been working for him this season. The Kawhi Leonard-Paul George experiment hasn’t been working so far due to injuries. We wonder how much patience with the front office will have to deal with this situation.
The Clippers are still a title-contender team when they’re healthy and playing together. We should see how they will do next year because it’s not looking good for this season. They are one loss away from getting eliminated. Game 5 will be on Tuesday at Phoenix as the Clippers try to keep their season alive.