The Los Angeles Clippers failed again. Kawhi Leonard was injured in the playoffs, and they couldn’t make it to the NBA Finals. We could save those two sentences and use them over and over every season.
Leonard’s health has been a talking point for years now, and it’s getting tiring. He started the load management trend, and it’s more than evident that it’s not working, which is why Stephen A. Smith urged him to just retire already.
Those comments didn’t sit well at all with former NBA player JJ Redick, who put Stephen A. on blast and went on to talk about how difficult it is to come back from injury when you’re a professional hooper.
JJ Redick Rips Stephen A. Smith Over Kawhi Leonard Take
“I mean this in the nicest way possible, but it’s very obvious that you’ve played zero high-level basketball and you do not understand the requirements of doing that,” Redick said. “A sprained knee for someone who has torn a quad tendon and who has torn their ACL is very different than someone playing on a hobbled ankle in the 1970s. It’s a terrible analogy.”
“I understand the frustration with the ‘load management’ issue,” Redick added. “What we’re talking about here and questioning his injury. Let’s give the guy some credit, he did it in Game 1; he went out there and battled Game 2. Guess what? If he could play, he would play.”
“Do you not have any empathy for someone who has came back from two major leg injuries?” Redick said. “I knew you were going to go off the rails here. The idea of getting rid of [him] I don’t know what the options are. Let’s keep in mind, they’re opening a new arena in ’24/25. They are the little brother in that city. I don’t think they can afford to go through a full years-long rebuild. They’ve got 1,160 toilets; they need people to use ’em.'”
Stephen A. has his fair share of wild takes, and he mostly does everything for the show, so Redick’s criticism is more than valid. But it’s also a fact that Leonard is never available, and the fans are getting tired of that.
While Smith should be more empathetic of Leonard’s situation, he’s speaking from a fan’s standpoint, and that’s also valid. He doesn’t need to be a pro hooper to realize that he might not be able to play a full season again.
