Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is at the center of the storm again, as the injury bug will keep him out of action when the NBA's 2024-25 season opens next week. Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue recently revealed that there is no timetable for Kawhi's season debut as he continues to deal with inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee.
With this latest development, some NBA personalities have advised Kawhi to consider retirement seriously, while others offered support. Meanwhile, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith found time to joke about Leonard's situation.
"What amazes me about Kawhi Leonard is that he's always just healthy enough right around the time to get paid. And then the second he gets paid, he's always injured," said Smith on the 'Stephen A. Smith Show'.
Kawhi signed a $152 million extension before getting hurt again
According to Smith, Kawhi has missed 161 out of a possible 390 regular-season games as a Clipper. He has also been a DNP in 15 out of his team's last 19 playoff games due to injury. Yet he is coming off a season in which he played 68 regular-season games, his most since 2016-17 when he suited up for 74 games.
Last January, the Clippers inked Kawhi to a three-year contract extension worth $152.4 million. He missed the final eight games of the regular season and played in only two of six playoff games, with his team being sent home in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks.
"You know what ticked me of y'all?" continued Smith. "This brother had the audacity, the unmitigated goal to try to play for Team USA. I know he was going. How the hell you going to do that? I was on the airwaves going ballistic but you heard me, I was going off like 'Get your a** back to L.A. and do everything you can to play."
Stephen A. called out Kawhi for wanting to play for the Olympics
Smith was one of Kawhi's staunchest critics during the lead-up to the Paris Olympics. Back then, Stephen A. criticized Kawhi for volunteering to play for free for the U.S. flag when he was repeatedly unavailable to play for the team that pays his salary.
"I literally said that he might get hurt flying to Paris. What happened? He got to Paris and they sent him home because they said he wasn't feeling well. Think about that. They sent him home after a practice. All he had done prior to that was fly," added Smith.
Well, Kawhi did not make the trip to Paris. However, Stephen A. was somewhat prophetic as Lue recently admitted that Leonard suffered a 'setback' while participating in the Team USA training camp. The inflammation has lingered, and now he will miss the start of the season.
Related: "I really think Kawhi Leonard should consider retiring" - Kendrick Perkins believes that Kawhi Leonard's career has come to an end
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