Kawhi Injury Rumors with Grant Mona

trying to get Google to work for me. But I said yesterday the show with Justin Russo was going to be the last Clippers Talk show of the week and if anybody can let me know, ooh, j Bo's eighty four already does. Thank you. Jay bos He says we're live and he can hear me, and we're good to go. So something popped up a little bit earlier today, and just to give you a little bit of the rundown of the show and why I'm doing this well, I

had a comment on the YouTube side earlier. It was under the Justin Russo show from yesterday at fly by Night is where you find Justin Russo and he is someone that I look up to when it comes to and look to guidance with his reporting. He's fabulous at it. You need to be a part of his substack or whatever Patreon, I don't know, but it's a subscription based thing and it's more than worth it because he gives out amazing information. I thought that would be the last

show of the week. I thought for sure that would be it. But I got a comment in that show that I saw earlier today that kind of puts some wind in my sales a little bit. As I started this YouTube channel well just about I don't know, a month and a half ago, and it was a very nice comment that got me excited and inspired and maybe want to do a show tonight. It said it was from the dang Aliko or DeAngelo whatever. It's one of

the last comments in there from three hours ago. It says, Adam, thank you for finally bringing us Clippers fans the radio show we've always dreamed of having. I don't ever listen to AM five to seventy anymore now. Some of that at the end, there was a bit of a slight. I worked for AM five to seventy and I told him, well, I at least hope you listen when Clippers games are on there and Petro some money and Rogan and Rod and you have been working for they're my guys. It's

the Dodger Station. But it made me think about how if I was doing a Clipper show today and it was during the off season for AM five to seventy, what type of show would that be, what we talk about, what would be the subject at hand. It's the off season. There isn't as much to discuss right now. Well, something occurred earlier today. I'm going to share this screen with you all right here, right now because I want to

put a topic to rest. But also it was a good jumping off point for just talking about the status of Kawhi Leonard and my true thoughts about how I feel going into this season given his track record and how injury prone he has been. And I haven't really done an episode on that yet. I have not necessarily

hinted around it. I've touched upon it in pretty much every single episode I have done so far on Clippers Talk in these off season editions now on the YouTube side, and by the way, yes, the Ralph Lawler interview is coming very soon. Here. I promise Part one. It was about an hour and a half long interview. Gonna split

it into two parts. I was up in ben Organ last weekend and I'm proud of the interview and was just proud to get to hang out with our friend Ralph Lawler again and had been too long and to catch up. And I think you guys are really going to enjoy this, and it's also going to get you a little bit more excited for this season. And it's

just a good time to reflect. And Ralph has been what gone for five years now since he was the voice of the Clippers, and I know for many of you he is forever voice of the Clippers, but he stepped down at the end of the twenty eighteen twenty nineteen season. We're lucky to have Brian Seaman. Now I'm lucky to have Carlo Jimenez on the radio side. He'll be coming on with me on Monday, coming on in this show in just a little bit. Here is my

voice cracks like it's pre pubescent. Zach Morrison saved by the bell because I just woke up from a nap. Honestly, we're gonna have hopefully Chuck Mockler will be here. We

will have Grant Bona from the Sporting Tribune. But I wanted to do this in a different sort of way here where I started things off with an opening monologue as I would if this was an A five to seventies show, because I go back to that comment I got on the YouTube side a little bit earlier today speaking of woke up to this as I'm sharing my

screen with you and what's up William Blast. But this guy who follows me on x and follows many Clipper fans reporters and is a part of Clipernation, it looks like LT sent me something that obviously I couldn't read it first had to translate it. He translated in the tweet, saying, this is something from something called China Weebo, which I guess I had to look this up. Is a micro blogging website, so I don't know if it's their version

of Twitter, a social media website in China. He translated it as this quote, there might be some bad news, so let me give you a heads up. We'll have to wait and see what happens during the Clippers media day. He claims this is coming from Kawhi, Chinese agent Obviously, players go over to China during the offseason. Typically James Harden has been there frequently, and they have a large market there. And I didn't know what to make of this at all. And I said, uh, what underneath it?

He said, China fans were talking about this, and she's Kawhai's Chinese agent, allegedly. I said, what is the point of this? He said, China fans are now guessing whether Kawhi is heard or not based upon this cryptic and vague social media post. I said, Cool, I was not in the mood when this came out earlier today. Obviously, LT responded, given that she is Leonard's Chinese agent, it's natural to make such a guess. First of all, I'm

assuming that's even true. For the sake of argument, we will assume that I said, I'm not into the fear porn. I'm gonna enjoy my day since either way, there's no nothing I can do. Even if there was something to this, LT said, still appreciate your reply, man, have a nice day. Cool. This is not somebody that's out there trolling, to my knowledge, or trying to raise alarm bells or say the sky is falling. He's following up on something that he saw

and he won input on it. No issue with that whatsoever. Whether or not this is accurate, who can know at this point, because La Murray of the Athletic did react to this, which makes me think it got even more traffic. And I'm trying to quote him accurately here. I just want to make sure I get this right from La Murray and he said this, and I will share the screen so you know, I'm giving you the facts here

and not just making anything up, La Murray said. Source close to Kawai says Kawhi is fine also at seventy six and mostly cloudy in La today. Check back next week. And that put a lot of people's fears aside. It did for me too, Why because I trust La Murray, I trust our local reporters for the Clippers. I trust that that's the information we have to this point, and

that's all we can go off of. And considering I've never gotten a tweet from that Chinese website before, and I never knew about his Chinese agent, I just don't want to put too much credence into it. It's not that I go into the season or go into any day feeling totally secure when it comes to Kawai's health given what has happened over the last four seasons. Hi Todd Tate says, good evening, Adam all the way from

Spring Texas. Appreciate everybody getting in here. It's not that I haven't told you a million times before on this show, in pretty much every episode this offseason, that I have real concerns about Kawhi Leonard I do. I just don't know if this is it all truly related or if it's a real report, and until it's substantiated by a real Clippers reporter and somebody that there was my alarm to wake up from that map actually has a connection and credibility to the Clippers, to Kawhi, I'm not gonna

put too much into it. Oh, Tomara Zarli's backup, says Hi Adam, longtime listener, big fan Tomarya. If the real te mayor wants to hit me up and send me a text and wants to jump on as well, in a little bit here we can have a panel, we can have a discussion. Already know Grant Mona is gonna be on. He already responded, and here he's watching right now.

I just want to lay this out in a certain format where a block, Yeah, I'm gonna ranch a little bit, I'm gonna have an opening monologue, and the I'm gonna have guests on, just like if it was a real radio show. Right now, other people are saying this messed up their day, They're about to crash out, they were panicking, I feel, and I don't think this is what the initial tweeter was saying, or it wasn't his aim at

least to get people riled up in a panic. He seemed genuine that he was looking for understanding about this message on a China social media site that may or may not be from Kawhi's Chinese agent over there. Some though, will use this to aggregate, We'll use this to gain

more of a following. I'm now using this this is a topic to talk about tonight, when and when I wasn't going to do a show to begin with, just because it does offer a springboard into a conversation about Kawhi Leonard and how I feel overall about his health and how I feel the Clippers should manage it this upcoming season, because there's a lot to this subject matter and I haven't touched upon it in a real focused, narrow focused way, laser focused way. So far this summer.

We have media Day coming up, by the way, in ten days Monday, September thirtieth, So very soon we're going to find out a lot about this team, roles, expectations from coach lou when the players up there on the podium. I'll be there and into a dome for media Day. I want to start with this though, because I have

been preaching this all summer long and before that. If you guys follow me, you know that I never bought into the narrative of oh Kawhi's fine, going back to March and April when he originally missed that first game. After the game in Charlotte, He's out against the Sacramento Kings, and everybody got concerned because I think it started off being labeled soreness in his right knee. I waited a few games. He still wasn't back. Then I saw the

Clippers were taking on the Denver Nuggets. There were standings, ramifications, there was a lot on the line in that game, and he still wasn't back, and people were still trying to tell me that no, they're just saving him for the playoffs. He played sixty eight games, most he had played since the I want to say twenty sixteen twenty seventeen season with San Antonio, and therefore they had a strong enough CD and they were just going to make sure that he was okay for a long playoff run.

And that's all. It was load management, getting Kawai as fresh as possible for the playoffs. I wish that's what it was. I never bought it, and it wasn't that. Obviously, now we all know. There was a lot of wishful thinking, I think from Clipper nation. I understand it. But when he misses a game as consequential as that game was against the Denver Nuggets, the Clippers won't it. Anyways, I knew something was up. I knew it was more than

just managing Kawai's body and resting. To Marrizzari says, to be fair, that's the message they were delivering. I didn't get that. I didn't see that. I just saw he continued to show up on the injury report. So if you can cite something for me, tell Mayor and I can bring it up here. I never heard a Clipper or spokesman say we're just resting him for the playoffs. I didn't pick up on that. When did that happen?

How did I miss this? Again? Tell Mary, if you want to come on, I can shoot you the link here. Grandmother was coming on hopefully, Chuck Mockler now whether or not we knew the significance of it, because eventually it went from soreness to swelling, That's when I started to become concerned. Then we had the reports, and this was a lot of speculation that Kawhi's going to go in game one, and it was more wishful thinking, He's good,

He's going in game one. I think actually La Murray had that, and then as the evidence changed, he changed his mind. New information came to light. He wasn't going in game one. Once he missed Game one with that swelling in his right knee, people started to take it seriously. The one thing I kept stressing the entire time, if you listen to me, was I'm not worried about Kawhi giving it a shot to play in this series. I

know he wants to play. I know he wanted to play, and maybe did play that Game two against Phoenix on a torm meniscus and there have been other times where Kawhi wants to play and the medical staff prudently. So I think you gotta protect players from themselves. They were the ones holding him back. Players want to play. Kawhi is a dog. He wants to play. He is a tough dude, and nobody is more frustrated than he Clipper

Nation because he's been going through this. If you read that article earlier this summer with some quotes coming out from Team USA before he was sent home, talking about his journey and how being injury prone is unfortunately part of his NBA story. He also tried to look for the silver lining, saying, you know, there's players who have had it worse than me. There have been players who have been through injuries and have never been the same Kawhi.

You could at least say, and I have been saying for years, is up until this point, so far he has always come back stronger and stronger and better and more efficient offensively. Til Marrizzarli did send me this tweet, he asked coach Lou going back to April twenty fourth, so this is already, but Kawhi had the April eleventh. Excuse me, you're twenty twenty four, quiet already missed a

bunch of time. Till Mayor izzarrely asked coach Low, is there any concern Kawhis Leonard his absence could bleed into the playoffs at all? No, not as of right now. You know, it's how do you want to interpret that? I think a lot of people were skeptical then, not as of right now, because apparently they thought they could get a handle on the swelling because they dealt with that before with players or with Kawhi Leonard, and it eventually subsided. I don't know, but I don't think it

was a clear direct message. I will say my guy, Till Mayor, as most teams are not, people think this is unique to Kawhi Leonard when it comes to not being as forthright with information. Ask Laker fans how they have felt in the past with Anthony Davis. Most organizations with their superstars are any player, you're not getting everything. That's the way it is. It's not going to be

a crystal clear message. Partly because well, as it turns out, doctors in this case were perplexed by what was going on with Kawhi Leonard because what we found out the swelling wasn't going down. And in going back to what I said initially, it's not so much about whether or not Kawhi Leonard plays in the series. He did, and he played in Game two. The question I had was how does he respond after playing a five on five game, after playing an NBA game and not just practicing. He

didn't respond well. It was my concern the entire time because while he looked okay in Game two, Game three wasn't even close to looking like himself, and I thought he probably should have been pulled after the first stint, just because his basketball powers weren't there. He obviously wasn't healthy. And then postgames talked about it and said, yea, it didn't respond the way we wanted it to. After Game two. Some people that are just coming into the chat here

are wondering what is happening and what context. It's simply from a report that hasn't been verified from China on a social media platform earlier today regarding Kawhi Leonard that has everybody in a panic and it hasn't been substantiated. We have no idea the validity to this. I'm simply reviewing Kawhi's injury history now. And giving you my thoughts on this season and how the Clippers should manage him and what to expect moving fowar baby, because here's the thing.

There's two things, and I talked about it with Om Young Masuk on Monday that have me concerned. Kawhi said when he first showed up for Team USA that he I don't have the exact quote, but it was something of a turning point. Two weeks before showing up for training camp for Team USA, he had a turning point, meaning it had been almost three months before that turning point. So my question was always, well, how long was the swelling going on? Nobody's going to have an answer for that.

We know it was at least a month from his last game in the regular season to that entire series against Dallas. That's about a month and a half spent time. And when I hear something like that and they couldn't get it under control, I worry about it. Everybody does. It's Kauwhi. It's his right knee, it's the acl me, it's the moniscus knee, it's the tendinopathy in his right leg. It's all is stemmed from that. So not a doctor not going to pretend to be. But when I hear that,

they couldn't get it under control for a while. And it's Kawhi, and now he has missed or missed sections or most of the last four years in the playoffs and hasn't been able to stay healthy. You're going to have a higher level of concern. It is completely fair. Yes, you miss something, Rewind, I can't go over it just because you showed up, Donnie out of your element or NBA talks here. I can't start the show over my

friend going into this season now. And by all accounts before we heard this rumor earlier today which does not have quite the weight of I don't know, Coach Lou saying he'll be ready for training camp and Mobaba saying he'd been working out with Kawhi in San Diego and the workouts were rigorous. We learned that from Kelly Johnson. She taught to him opening night into it. Though for the Bruno Mars concert, Kawhi wasn't there, but Mobamba was, and that's a guy I guess Kawhi has been a

fan of for a while. They finally brought him over. I learned from Joseph Rya Award that that's somebody the Clippers were looking to bring in for a time now, and I think it's because Kauhi is a fan of Mobamba, so that's a cool connection. But the fact that they were working out and its sounded like tough workout. So Kawhi, we're hoping is healthy and ready to go, and there's

nothing more to this report. I'm gonna lean on the side of Lotmori, of Tomayr of far Brought Senshari, of Joey Lynn, of Andrew Grive hoping he's back on the beat this year, and people like Adrian Motrowski, Okay, we can't lean on him anymore, Chris Haynes and Shamshrania. If it's not coming from them, I'm not that worried about it yet. I'm just not. I'm worried in general when it comes to Kawhi's health. I don't think he should

be playing back to backs this year. I'm open to a lot of suggestions guys when it comes to Kawhi, because they've pretty much tried everything, and even after playing the most games he had played in almost a ten year period, he wasn't able to go yes when it mattered most. Nobody's more frustrated than him, as frustrated as

you are. Kawhi is a bad mother effort, and we know what he's capable of when he's healthy in the playoffs, even if he's limping around like he was at times with the Toronto Raptors in twenty nineteen, we know what he can do. We're desperate to have a full playoff run with Kawhi Leonard and he wants desperately to give

it to cliber Nation. Believe me on that. I just the talk from Stephen A. Smith and the false narratives that have been out there have obscured reality a little bit when it comes to Kawhi and who he is and what his passions are. Guys, he loves basketball. This is what he loves to do. You talk about Kawhi being monotone or robotic, or he's not on social media. Maybe he's a boy guy because of that. Well, his

love and his hobby seems to be basketball. So that's what he's going to give you, not all these other ancillary things. I just want him to be healthy to do that. There's sixteen back to backs. He can't play one side of those. I don't think less something changes, But I don't know why do you risk it at this point if anybody should be getting a pass for being quote unquote load managed because they've tried not to and it hasn't worked. They've tried too and it hasn't worked.

But we know if he's not playing, there's less of a chance of being injured. So if he needs to rest one half of the back to back good. I don't want to hear anything from Steven A. Smith. I don't want to hear anything from people chirping about I don't know if they're going to try to call him street clothes like they do Anthony Davis, which I don't like. It's warranted. When it comes to Kawhi Leonard, it is.

It's completely fair. How could you not understand him missing a game here and there with what has occurred the last four years. His body hasn't been able to hold off. He has tried, Jennifer, he is trying. See Jim McCollum would say he wants to play. They're gonna have to save them from himself. It's not his decision ultimately. If it was, he probably would have kept playing in that series against Dallas and looked like a fraction of himself, which I didn't want to see. And I'm glad they

made the right decision of shutting him down. He was ineffective and it looked downright dangerous when he was hanging from the rim and afraid to drop to the hardwood because of the impact on his right knee. I just don't want to hear any more of this nastiness out there that Kawhi doesn't want to play or that he doesn't care. It's not true. His body is limited him. It has betrayed him. Kawhi's nie may not want to

play at times, but Kawhi does. That's the truth. And yeah, if you're not concerned about his health, look the game he left against Minnesota with backspasms. Nobody knew for a while. I get it. There's murkiness, and it's not just Kawhi, who's the only player that you have to deal with

this with. Trust me, it's not. But I know cliper Nation and how you felt at times like it's just been torture because guys have been so snake bitten and the Clippers history, but let alone the last five years now in the two to three era that we're now moving on from because Paul George is in Philly. Kahi is one of my favorite players ever. He was one of my favorites before the Clippers. Believe me, I want to see him out there too. He wants to be

out there if he can, he will be. If he's healthy, he will be in all reports from the Clippers so far, or that he is healthy and will be for trading camp period, regardless of some social media website that has not been confirmed. Okay, the website's confirmed, but the report has not been. So let's not give into fear porn because people are almost more comfortable sometimes panicking or feeling like they should or I don't know, some people want drama.

Let's not do it. If something more comes out of this, Okay, until then, no wait to hear from the people with credibility. That's what this show is about tonight, and also talking about Kawhi Leonard and maybe what's to come, because I have said before when it comes to expectations of this upcoming season, well, I don't know. Let me know if Kawhi plays ten straight games before we talk about championship

expectations and where the Clippers can end up. I want to see where his hell's at the sky is not falling Dabo's eighty four. I think he's mocking me. There's no Chicken little here. I don't feel any differently than I did earlier today before I saw that report that I normally have felt out about Kawhi. I'm always in this middle where I'm like, yes, it's concerning. I have my doubts. How much are you going to be able to play? It's one thing to do all this training.

It's another to play in an NBA game, and then how many can you play in consecutively? JM jm I thirteen twenty four says, I think fans have PTSD because of the two one three era. It's like you can't trust no one. But people be apping. Well, I'm guessing this is not going to be the last time we get what could be a false report just to get attention, just to get eyeballs your way, maybe more followers social media cloud, I don't know, and I want to cut

it off at the knee is now. I don't want people to fall for every social media post that's out there. And I'm not even saying, look, I don't no I can't verify this. I'm just saying. La Murray says, no, I'm gonna go with that over this. Clippers haven't say anything. I'm gonna go with that over this, and now I'm gonna go with Grant Mona joining us here on Clippers Talk Live. Chuck Malker might be in a little bit. Hell, I send out a link to Tillmara Zarli since he

was in the chat. Till Mary, we could use some of your great reporting as always, But Grant Mona is from the Sporting Tribune. If you didn't know, he has the great graphic there. He's at Gmona forty eight. Now on is that on X Instagram everywhere? Oh, Grant, my guy, I can't hear you. See Now, this is an issue when it comes to bringing somebody in before. I've already screened him before pre show. Well, Grant troubleshoes here and I got you already. Grant, hear you, but now you

can't hear me. I hear you. Grant, You're good. I can hear you. You can't and now I can't hear you. So Grants having technical difficulties. We'll try to work on this in the backgrounds here Look, do you trust law Murray. It's the law as Clipper Chaos three says Lawler's law. Trust law Murray. I mean, it's not just first to

one hundred anymore. NBA talk says we're feeding into it. Well, look, I'm trying to make it very clear my objective and my mission tonight because I know more of this stuff is going to keep happening with Kawhi, and I don't want you to be on edge every second of the day looking at people who may just be try to get attention on social media. That's what I'm worried about. This is one of the first in a bit to

bring up something like this. So yeah, other people saying end of September, we need anything NBA to talk about. I don't need just anything. Trust me. I wasn't doing a show tonight. Grandma, you got me now, don't hear you? You hear me, but I don't hear you. My friend, as Petros would say, this is called spiraling radio death and now it's ptasting. I hear you now, and he here's me. I don't hear him. Hear him. Yeah, it's it's it's not working, my friend. Unfortunately, I'll keep you

on the background. Maybe we can figure it out. I just don't want to keep having troubleshoot this, and now I'm learning of some of the drawbacks if not just doing this the traditional way. Look, I don't want anyone here, and I understand we're drawing more attention to it, or you could be thinking that, well, there's already attention on it. I saw who I was trending earlier. So how about we nip it in the bud. There's already a spotlight.

This is how I would encourage you to operate. Look to the local reporters, look to Sham's, look at Chris Haynes. If they have something, then by all means it's valid, there's validity to it. If they don't, and I'm sure people are getting at them to wait in on this. Take it with a grain of salt. Grantmona one more time. If it doesn't work this time, you damn it. Grant you hear me, the love of God, I don't hear him. If other people hear them, well that still wouldn't help me.

latching onto this report that nobody can verify yet. I'm not even gonna go as far to say it's untrue. I'm gonna say there's no way to know that it is yet, because nobody with credibility has said it is. That's my position. What say you?

procedures or you know. Obviously we had the Olympic thing in training camp for the Olympics where we had one report from the Clippers saying that hey, we wanted him to be out there, and then Grant Hill of Team USA it was like, well he didn't look that great, so you had that. So every time we get news like this, Adam and I know this is coming from a Chinese source where we had to translate it and then get it from somebody that we couldn't really be

credible with. You know, every time we have something like this, anything with Kawhi, our intent is go up. But you know, I think what in these situations, as.

to go. So that's straight from the coach's mouth. Now, obviously I know Tomayer was in here and he went around the reports and the sources from way back in April where he said, well, he should be good to go by the playoffs, and obviously that wasn't the case. So I think, Adam, anytime these come around Clipper fans, they get scared, they get kind of anxious because of all the injuries that Kawhi has had and all of the kind of concerns I think we all have going

into the season. Now, I think when healthy Kawhi Leonard is still one of the best players in the league, and he showed that last year, right, he played the most games he's played since twenty sixteen twenty seventeen with the Spurs, and obviously that kind of derailed his playoffs in Round one last year. But he played a lot last year. So I think that coming into this year, there's going to be more riding on Kawhi Leonard, There's going to be more riding on James Harden because of

the departure of Paul George. So I think that when you hear something like this, if you're a Clipper fan, obviously all of your intent is go up because you're like, oh, no, this is our guy. This is the guy that's supposed to at least get us to a five to eight seed, which is where I believe that this team will finish. So if he's out, now what So I think that

it's just built up. And you've mentioned this, you know today on the Live is like, you know, I think they've gone through a lot Clipper fans to where any little piece of rumor or source or any from anybody it will get them a little bit anxious. So I think we have to take these with a grain of salt. Most times, and I love to hear things from law until Mayor and Joey Lynn and all of our great reporters that do credentialed work for us, because yeah, yes

I am, thank you for all the love. I will be at media day as well, everyone, so I'll look forward to seeing you guys over there. But again, you know, I think that when we get these types of updates, this late into the off season, this close to training camp, I think all of our antennas raised just a little bit more. But again, law Murray said that he's fine. I trust law sources, I trust what all these guys have to say.

body respond afterwards? That's what happened from Game two to Game three, it didn't respond well. And so what concerns me most is can he just overheat now with that right knee after just too much wear and tear over the years and being the age of thirty three, and there's this threshold he can't go beyond minutes wise or games wise, intensity wise, because as opposed to the last two injuries, the ACL tear we saw it with Joe Ingle,

the meniscus. Nobody knows the play exactly. There are a few plays floating out there that they speculate and they think it could be this or that. It was an actual tweak of the knee. It was something within tendons, ligament's bone muscle that moved in an unnatural way. This seems to be just overuse, just getting to a point where his body was saying no moss, and then it started to swell. Swelling is an inflammation is usually a

sign of something's going on in there. What is it That's That's what makes it even more indefinite or murky or an enigma with his injury history, because could it just swell up and there was no actual tweak this time, It's just because his body is saying, hey, I've reached my limit for this game or this week or this month.

That's my concern, and I have no idea moving forward if that's going to be the case or if Because Lawrence Frank was asked about this at the press conference talking about TMSA, Kawhi had a procedure or not, we don't know. Lawrence Frank was parsing his words rightfully, so being prudent with it. It is not you know, any team's prerogative to let you in behind the scenes completely.

It's not just something that happens with Kawhi Leonard. So what he said something to the effect of if it was something significant, we would have to report it, meaning if he went under the knife and it was something significant, we'd have to report it. Therefore, if he did have a procedure, it wasn't significant enough to where they would

have to disclose. So we still don't know if that happened or not, or if the swelling just subsided over time and he got back to what Kawai called at TMOSA a neutral state with his knee, which I do think might have set off red flags with Tmusa because he said it, well, if you're in a neutral state, now, are you anticipating that it could change at some point? It kind of begs that question, right, So that's where I'm coming from. It has nothing to do with this

report earlier today. My concern is rooted in the last injury being difficult for them to seemingly ascertain what the treatment method should be to get the swelling down, because they weren't able to by the time the playoffs arrived, which I think was around two and a half weeks after he initially was out, and they couldn't get it down during the playoff series obviously, and then he says two weeks before training camp at TSA there was a

turning point. Well, that was like two and a half months after the season ended, almost so was it swollen that whole time? Nobody knows, Grant, and I think that stuff is fair to be concerned about, because there is you know, while there's a lack of knowledge, there is a timeline. At least you could say, well, if you're saying there's a turning point two weeks BEFOREOSA started and his knee was swollen from this amount of time, you

could start to piece together a little bit. I don't know, that's I don't know how what level of concern you have because of this most recent injury. I'd love for you to fill in on this.

that you can get down. But we didn't see that after he I mean, I don't know if he got hurt in the Hornets game, but after that Hornets game where they announced that he had inflammation and they came back home, we didn't see him until Game one of the playoffs, or excuse me, game two of the playoffs, and obviously, like you mentioned, in game three, he just did not look right. He was hanging on the rim for dear life because he didn't want to come down

and hurt himself. So, you know, I think that throughout the course of this offseason, we were all wondering, Hey, what is the status of this guy. Does he need a procedure, does Kawhi need to have a cleanup done because inflammation a lot of I mean, I've read a lot of stuff about, you know, from doctors regarding knees and tendons and quads because of what has happened.

felt like he could play. That's exactly, you know. That is of note to mention that part of this.

kind of things that you see. And I remember this speculation back when Kawhi came back from his ACL injury, right because he had that ankle sprain early in that year in twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, after he came back from the ACL injury, and everyone was wondering, oh is he at practice? Is he gonna are you gonna see him at practice? I remember people were hounding Tomer in the comments like can you get a video of Kawhi? Can you get anything from Kawhi? This is

what we're talking about. I don't know if this looks like a guy that went there to get a blood platement transfer or knee treatment, but.

really from getting hit. The only one that it was was from the Joe Ingles injury with the acl or he got bumped and he kind of tweaked his knee. Everything else from that, like the meniscus was just like probably wear and tear. Then the inflammation was probably wear and tear. So at this point, Adam, there should be

some concern. But you know, judging off what Tyleru said, and I know that a lot of people don't like to take what TYLERU said into account a lot, just because there's been mixed, you know, feelings about what Tyler says and what the team actually does. But I take what he says into account a lot. And he said

that he will be ready for training camp. There was a picture of him with the USC Trojan's head coach Eric Mussel where he said, hey, you know, it was great to have Kawhi at the at the arena or at the gym. He looked great. Can't wait to watch him this season. And you know that's obviously another good sign. And that was after Team USA. So you know, I have a little bit of optimism for Kawhi, I really do. They are going to load manage him. Let's not get

that wrong. He is going to be load managed this year, and I think rightfully so. But again, you know, I think his health is what will get the Clippers to that middle of the pack in the West. If he's not healthy and you're relying a James Harden led offense with you know, I think great role players, but him as the main scoring option. You know that that's a concern for the Clippers, and it's a concern for Clipper fans, so I could see why people are a little bit on edge.

they've thought of it. We've talked about it. Like how

limiting would that be? And then would you be getting the best version of Kawhi Leonard Like, there's so much that goes into this, and he has his own team adoptors, and the Clippers have an extensive medical team, Like there is so many layers to this and just to reset it all started with a tweet earlier today that has gotten a ton of traction and Hackawai trending, probably for the wrong reasons, from this guy LT who picks something up from China weebow, which is a social media website,

a mini blog website that he used to translate this as quote, there might be some bad news, so let me give you a heads up. We'll have to wait and see what happens during the Clippers media day. And allegedly it was coming from Kawai's agent in China. That

has not been confirmed. It has not been verified, and La Murray came forward and actually kind of calmed everyone's nerves and cooler heads started to prevail after he put out a tweet a little while afterwards, because I guess he felt like, well, there's so much talk out there that maybe I should, La Murray said. Sources close to Kawai says Kawhi is fine also at seventy six and mostly cloudy in La today, so it's good news overall.

But I know this is going to keep happening, and I just want to address it now and get it out of the way. The people you should be looking to Grant Mona, La Murray, Tomarra, Azari far about Essen Shari, Joey Lynn, Chris Haynes, Shamshrania. These are people with authority on the subject. When they say something, I'll be more concerned. And again I don't know that it's a fake account. I'm not trying to discount it. I just can't verify it, nor could we verify even if it's a real account,

whether or not it's true. With how private Kawhi is, I know it's an agent, Why would they put something out there like that. You know, it kind of flies in the face of how Kauwai operates. You have to think about that part of it. Why would we be We'd be getting breaking news from China, from his Asian in China, if there was an issue, what would be the point of that. So, yeah, we're trying to go for straight facts here or chaos and sort through the

piles of misinformation on social media. Again, I'm not saying this is what I am saying is I'm going to trust la Murray and his report over this. If things change, if more information comes out, if the evidence changes, then my opinion can change. It's as simple as that. But right now, I'm not putting a ton into it. I'm just not Do I have plenty of concern about Kawhi heading into this season, Yes, but this doesn't factor into that.

I already had these concerns with the swelling that had been going on, and how much that right knee can take before swell it swells back up. I just that's that's my fear that high level basketball can lead to more swelling in that reconstructed right knee, and I think they need a little manage him to avoid that and do everything you can to avoid that. And if you guys have any solutions, because I thought this was ludicrous.

Just a year ago, I would have said, come on, guys, you can't only play him in March and just wait for the playoffs to start and then implement Kawhi Leonard back onto the team because he's been so injury prone. You know what, at this point, Grant, I'll take any guesses. I'll take anything, because it has been four straight years of this. The problem is if he doesn't play during the regular season and you say just wait till the playoffs and then activate Kawhi Leonard, well they won't be

making the playoffs. You're going to need him in the regular season because he has one of the highest winning percentages, if not the highest winning percentage in regular season basketball in the history of the game. I know he had it for quite some time. Like they're not gonna be able to get by in the West if you just wait till March to start playing him, That's not gonna work.

I mean, it wasn't to the extent that they did it when he was coming back from his ACL injury in his first year with the Clippers, but they still load managed him in that first year that he came to the Clippers, and they've tried it last year where hey, let's see if maybe more wear and tear can help him outlast these injuries and see if that helps him going into the playoffs, and he got to that sixty

seven game mark and then everything went downhill. So I think Clipper fans have to realize, like they've tried almost everything they can from a health standpoint in terms of let's play him more, let's play him less, let's play him maybe middle of the road, and then let's not do that. So you know, at this point there should

be concern. There really should, But their season and the way they play this season will ride on how Kawhi plays and how he feels and if he'll play in the back to backs, if any how many games he plays, if he will be at that All NBA level that he was last year, because he played sixty seven games and guys, he's still won second team All NBA. That's

how good he is when he's healthy. But obviously that sixty seven games and playing the back to backs and not worrying about taking any rest that hurt him in the long run. So you know, at this point, you know people should be concerned. They should, and this season more than ever because last year you had the three stars of Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Paul George. If

Kawhi was out. This year, the scoring is going to remain on Kawhi, It's going to remain on James Harden, and then I think Vitza Zuba is going to have to be the third scoring option for the team. But he's going to have to carry the scoring volume, which means the ball's going to be in his hands more, which means that he's going to have to be out there more, which means there's more strain on his knees, which means the inflammation, like you mentioned Adam could kick up again.

can't just say Kawhi is fine. Everyone is talking about this is sad Clippers versus Pacers in the NBA Finals for the title in four Clippers when it six. I can't stay say stuff like that. I just I can't because I need to see him play ten games straight. First, play ten games straight. Then let's talk about Kawhi his health in what this Clippers ceiling is. Because in the playoffs, why you don't have back to backs a seven game series? If it goes seven? Can he play seven games straight

right now? I don't know that. Melvin Powell, I'm glad you're staying positive, man, and I'm glad you're saying, Hey, Kawhi Leonard will be in the MVP race this season, and Chris Dunn is going to become an NBA All Defensive Team member selection along with Derek Jones Jr. I'm glad you're making all these predictions that seem overly optimistic.

I'm trying to be overly realistic. If anything, Kawhi went through a stretch last season where he set the all time efficiency record over a thirty game span where he was putting up god tier numbers. I want to say it was fifty seven to fifty one, ninety splits or something like that, where Adrian war Jurowski had to take note of it at one point and put out the tweet after I've been talking about it for damn near two months and saying hashtag Kawhi or Claw for MVP.

And guess what, They still didn't have him top five in MVP voting. They still didn't have him top five on Bovada when it came to MVP odds. So to say he's gonna be the MVP year or being the race, it's like, do you guys understand what he did last season? And they still were not giving him the love and respect. At one point more people started to talk about it. But I just I'm gonna be honest and keep it real about the Kawhi Leonard situation. Let me know when

he plays ten straight games, let me know. Because there's two back to backs coming up in the first two weeks of the season. Four of their first six games are back to backs. I don't think he's gonna be playing in back to backs. I don't think he should be playing in back to backs. But eventually, if the Clippers are going to make a run, he has to be able to sustain this high level of play game to game and be available game to game, and that just hasn't been the case unfortunately. As much as he

wanted to play last year. And I think and Om said this on Monday on the show Ome Youong Masouk that Kawhi didn't want to load manage, that Kawhi wanted to play every game last season. Well, I don't know if they're gonna let him even if he wants to, because I don't know how you could when his body has continued to break down at a certain point. I wonder, Grant, if there's something to what the Toronto Raptors did that season, because I know he's had multiple injuries since then, so

it changes the equation. But they came into the year saying this is the limit. Right off top, He's not playing more than this amount of games. In fact, I want to pull out the exact amount because it was sixty eight last season. It was sixty in Toronto, and I believe Grant correct me if I'm wrong. They were transparent immediately saying this is the amount that he's able to play during the regular season in Toronto.

and actual tendons and cartilage. So I feel like if you straight up announce that media day, or if you announce early into this training camp that hey, this is our plan for Kawhi, this is what we're gonna do, and Raptors fans didn't care. They were like, listen, any bit of Kawhi that we get is an upgrade of what we had last year. So they were okay with it. They were like, listen, we know that he's a playoff performer. We know that if he's healthy going to the playoffs

that he will be good. And he was good and he led him to their first championship. So I think that them, you know, the Clippers coming out this year, whoever it is, coming out this year and saying listen, we know the injury history. We've accepted the injury history. It's okay to know that he's you know, he's not the same guy that he was in his early twenties when he played for San Antonio. We know that he's had.

puzzle pieces together. I'm not gonna say that. I'm gonna say what has been articulated and what has been labeled these injuries for Kawhi. But I'll say this every time to me, he has come back, he's gotten more efficient on the offensive end, and he's become a better player. I'm not saying it's because of the injuries, but the guy works on his craft so much that he just gets better and better regardless of the obstacles that have

been thrown at him with setbacks due to injuries. I know he doesn't have the octopus level defense possession to possession that he used to have, but when he needs to ramp up and wants to It's still there. That is what that's astounding to me, because here's the thing. Kawhi is a left legged leaper. It's his right leg that has gone through all this. He can still get up. That's not a problem for him. So while the injuries have compounded and they have been consistent over the last

four or five years, he continues to evolve. And I would say offensively, what we saw in those thirty games when he was putting up those efficiency numbers, that is the best version of Kawhi Leonard in the regular season we ever saw. And that's coming off an acl meniscus.

Kawhi was unbelievable for like over a month. I mean, look at these stats here. I mean it's not just the points per game, It's not just you know, the fact that he was moving well, the efficiency at which he was getting to his spots, the efficiency of which he was shooting, it was unbelievable. So when you see it, whenever you see first player to average all time, that means that he's probably still in his prime, which you know,

people have to understand when they think of Kawhi. You know, I feel like the general consensus when people think about Kawhi right now is, oh, he's not the same as he used to be. Yes, maybe defensively, like you said, he maybe he's lost a little bit of that step. But we saw him make a chase down block on Shay Gil just Alexander against the Thunder this past year. We saw him lock in many times and get just

rip away steals. I remember the one against Portland in Portland where he was on a fast break and went up and under and had an and one. So he still has that burst as well. I think it's that's what makes it so frustrating for Clipper fans and for people that love the game, is that when this guy is healthy He's still a top five player in the NBA. He's still a top five performer in the NBA. And it's just, you know, the fact that his health keeps

letting him down. But this notion that Kawhi Leonard is not the same player that he was in Toronto, everyone's like, well, imagine if the Clippers got Toronto Kawhi Leonard. It's say, hold on a minute.

two percent from the free throw line. He was the first player to average at least twenty five points and a fifty five to fifty to ninety shooting split, which was actually above that over any thirty game span in NBA history. Guys, do not tell me Toronto Raptors Kawhi

was better than this. He wasn't. He was healthier. You can of course make that argument, he wasn't better than twenty twenty one Kawhi which had another all time run and make it twenty twenty one in the first round, and the numbers he was putting up, they were shack numbers. I've never seen anything like Kawhi Leonard at his peak, honestly, Grant, I say this all the time. I think he is a top ten playoff performer ever, Like he is like

ever in the history of the game. Maybe top five, don't I don't know if I can find I don't think I can find nine guys ahead of him. Like look at this against the Dallas Mavericks in that first round series in twenty twenty one. So he's out there putting up Shack level efficiency thirty points per game on sixty percent shooting while taking on average his shots from almost ten feet further back. That is insane. Like we haven't seen any his mid range. It might even be better.

People don't want to hear this, like efficiency wise that MJ's was. Hey mine, I'm just it's historic what Kawhi has done into the playoffs and who he's been as a player when he is healthy. Can we get him healthy? And we got some questions coming in here, Grant, So let's get to him sure, Jonathan Ings says, what is also the plan for Harden to make sure he doesn't get overextended like last season when we saw a dip in his play host All Star Break. What do you think about that, Garret, I.

their offense around. They wanted to run, they wanted to sprint down the floor. Now it's a completely different thing coming into training camp. I think training camp is gonna be excellent to have James Harden around and have that full off season with the guys, so his scoring volume will go up, his usage will go up. People forget like James Harden's usage last year was actually pretty high as well. It's just that you know, we kind of look around that because he had Paul George and Kawhi

and they do a lot of ISO actions. But James Harden was used a lot last year. His scoring volume is going to go up, which means his legs are gonna get tired. And you've mentioned this on many shows with all of your guests, is that there was a point in the season last year where his legs were tired. He slowed down a step and you saw the kind of decline from his scoring. Obviously, he's always going to be a great ball handler. He's always going to be

a guy that gets people in their spots. But this year it's gonna have to be I don't know what his points per game are gonna be. Maybe twenty three to twenty five is probably what we all hope that it can be. He's not gonna get back to that Houston Harden forty points per game, thirty five points per game. Let's let's not think that way. But there is a real concern on my end about the overuse of Harden, or maybe if he's going to have the ball a lot more, if he's gonna have to initiate a lot

more offense. You know what is he going to look like in February. What's he gonna look like in March when we're probably Adam gonna be fighting for a six, seven to eight seed, hopefully five seed. That's where we're gonna need him the most, I feel like, you know, aside from the playoffs. So there is concern about that.

That's been one of my thoughts that I think about all the time because the Clippers are always on my mind, Adam, is that when Harden has the ball more and when he's gonna be asked to do more on the offensive end, you know, what is that gonna look like in February and March when you know, maybe his legs do slow down and you don't have that backup of a Paul George and a Kawhi just doing their thing. That's that's one of my concerns. It's true. So we're gonna have

to see. The main just is we're gonna have to see what they run in training camp.

bro Now. To his credit, he listed names. K D is not a better playoff performer than Kawhi Leonard because he hid behind the muscles of the seventy three win Golden State Warriors and got two finals MVPs while being on a stack team that had no chance of losing. That does not make him a better playoff performer than

to me at all. In fact, just watched the first two games against Kawhi Leonard last season when he had a better team on his side in Phoenix, and Kawhi was dogging him and destroying him and ripping the ball away from him and out playing him. Katie's not He's not a better all time playoff performer than Kawhi or a lot of guys. That's just not the truth. Curry.

I don't know if i'd say Curry is either now since what he did in twenty twenty two against Boston without KAD that gives him a bump and I think I could make the argument Steph Curry, and I've been saying this for a few years, basically since he won that last championship. I think he is a top five

player of all time. But I don't know if I can necessarily say he's a playoff riser to the degree that Kawhi is, because Curry's actually taken a ton of flack over the years for not stepping up and having better numbers in the playoffs. Kawhi, my lord, his last sixty playoff games, I believe he's just about at fifty forty ninety splits on thirty points per game his last sixty playoff games. That's insane. J Hey, sure you can say that, although his efficiency in his second three PET

you'd be surprised. It's pretty low. Different game, hard to compare Kareem Uh maybe different game now we're talking all time. Hakem. Yeah, he's top five, but Kawai can find can find his way into this list when it comes to top five playoff performers. Trust me, if you just look at efficiency and the way he's been able to carry teams and how reliable he's been in as a number one option, the undisputed number one option. I'm sorry, but Kawhi is otherworldly.

I don't think I don't think it's a stretch or crazy to say he's a top five all time playoff performer. Yeah, somebody else is agreeing Curry isn't either.

In twenty twenty one Round one, there would have been no Western Conference Finals run if it wasn't for Kawhi Leonard saving them in game seven. In Game six, Game six, he scored forty five points, right, So, like, this is a guy that when the when your back is against the wall in Game six, they're down in the fourth quarter.

This is maybe could have been the end of the two one three era because there are a lot of questions going into that season, you know, after they blewed in the bubble and he goes for forty five in a hostile environment where there was a full crowd in Dallas and puts them to bed, and then in game seven back at home, he puts them to bed again.

So you know, and I think people forget the Utah series before he got hurt too, because people just think that, you know, it was just the first round for Kawhi and that was it. In those first four games, what he was doing, I mean him and Paul George were going like thirty plus a night each.

do it? Honestly, there are doubts about him. In twenty fourteen when he won the championship with the Spurs, nobody thought Kawhi would win Finals MVP in that series, and he did it because he was available and he was unbelievable on the defensive end and guarded Lebron but also offensively too. That was kind of the ascension of Kawhi Leonards. So, you know, I think that we kind of misconstrue this when we think about Kawhi Leonard, like, oh, can he

do it? He has done it in every facet of the game in the playoffs, it's just a question of is he going to be there. So, you know, I think people get kind of convoluted with a lot of these things. When they think about him, it's like, oh, well, we didn't even know that he was playing in Round two of twenty twenty one.

and the finish on the fast break in that series. So, you know, I think that that's what the team should be focused on. That's what fans should be focused on. If you see him load managing this year, don't say we didn't warn you. Don't say that you didn't expect it, because in twenty twenty one he was load managed. And look, I know he got hurt in round two, but he got to round two. That was more than he did in twenty twenty three. That's more than he did in

twenty twenty four. So don't there will be load managing.

that could organization. There's people on here saying, oh, they know exactly what's going on with Kawhi Leonard, and it's like, dude, he doesn't know. He doesn't know how he's going to respond, how his body's going to respond. After some of these games, after he played against Dallas, nobody had any idea. So that's why when you criticize the organization for being vague with reporting it, part of it is built in. Nobody can know because it's just it's it comes down to

how his body responds. Often that is the case. My guy, Melvin Powell Junior, by the way, is on something else. I know it's Friday night, but he said Kawhi and Harden are going to be on their last dance. Michael Jordan's type of time this season, it's winning time. This season is the end of both their primes. Seriously, though, I'm sure Melvin Powell Junior said the same thing last season as many people did. I talked about that last season. It felt like the last dance for the two and

three era. Before the season started, we said that and it still ended up being the same way. He's also saying they're going to be a better defensive team than the Timberwolves of healthy. It's like the Timberwolves were the number one defense last season and it wasn't close. They're not going to be better than them. I hope they can be. What they need to be is a top eight defensive team. To me, Grant, that's it. Top eight.

If you're already saying Kalli is not playing back to backs, that means sixteen games are cut off immediately for him. So missing one of your best defensive players heading into the season for at least sixteen games, it's going to be hard to be a top five defense. Let alone the number one overall defense. Your thoughts on that.

to be a top five defensive team. My thing with them, Adam, if they could be a top ten defensive team and just middle of the pack on the offensive end, because I think that their offense is going to take a hit with the loss of Paul George. There's a lot of people probably in these comments that are thinking something else. But if you can be top ten defensively, which is something And I don't have the exact defensive ratings for the entire two to three era, but it was never

an elite defense for whatever reason. I mean, they always had the personnel I felt like, but it was never a top five defensive team. Now you could say that in that twenty six and five run that they had this past year. That's when they were a number one, number two defense, Like, they were insane defensively, but obviously that didn't last, and towards the last part of the season they kind of fell back towards the sixteen through

eighteen range. They really took a dive defensively, and that's probably why they honed in and focus don getting defensive

minded players. But this I think that if they are a top eight defensive team like you mentioned, and I really believe they can with the personnel that they brought in, if they are a top eight defensive rated team and they're just fifteenth on offense, hopefully listen, I know that we all think that they should be a top ten offensive team, but if they are even twelfth through fifteenth with that top ten defensive rating, I think that's a

recipe for a five to eight seed. Now we're gonna have to see how the West plays out, because there's a lot of good teams in the West. There are teams that are gonna get gonna get better, Like I think Memphis is gonna be better, So you're gonna be fighting against more teams, I feel like. But we say this every year. We say it every year, Oh the West got so much better. Oh the West is so

much better this year. But in twenty twenty three, like it was basically just the Nuggets and then everyone else everyone had a down year. So I think I don't think we can make these points right now. We kind of just have to wait it out and see how the season starts. I know we're getting way ahead of ourselves, but if they are top ten defensively, if they are middle of the pack or maybe a little bit above middle of the pack offensively, that is the recipe for

successes here. I'm not saying they're going to be a top four seed. I'm not saying they're going to be one of the contenders in the West. But I think that those two ratings put together can bode well for them and that could be a great season for the Clippers.

losing two more games. It's going to be crazy and teams are going to be climbing all over each other for positioning. Sinner Jr. Says, think about it. Lawrence Frank was saying how Kawhi was ready and they wanted him to play. They want teams to want to trade him. I think you will be traded before the All Star freak. Guys, there's no conspiracy here of Lawrence Frank saying this to pump up his trade value. Good lord, do a little

bit of critical thinking here. I think Lawrence Frank was, as he said, very disappointed by the fact they sent him home because Kawhi wanted to play for Team USA and wanted to win a gold medal and he's their franchise player. So you back those guys up, and they have a great relationship with Kawhi Leonard and I've come to the conclusion and this could change, but currently where I'm at with Kawhi Leonard and having a sell off

or moving on at some point from him. Also in this era, he represents and symbolizes them becoming a destination franchise for the first time in this organization's history. Grant, I think it would be very difficult to take a lot or a serious godfatherlike offer from somebody, which is not going to happen right now because of his injury history. So the chance of him being traded is so slim because one the Clippers, I don't think want to trade him.

They want to see this thing through with Kawhi Leonard and make sure he's treated as the superstar he is for picking the Clippers and coming here, because that's so meaningful. It hasn't happened since Bill Walton, and even that was kind of a trade back in the day, and that was with San Diego. Like this is more than just

what he means on the court. It's transformative to the franchise to know that you finally have become a destination where free agents will come your way, even free agents that just want a finals MVP will choose you out of all teams and choose you over the team that was across the hole in their former arena. By the way, I don't know what your feelings are on that.

soon at the end of a dome. They signed Blake Griffin early in the you know, they signed the extension of the offseason. They traded him early in the season. The Clippers aren't going to do that. No team is going to take his contract either, because we have people forget we have this new CBA where teams really can't

take back that much salary unless you match it going back. So, you know, I think there's this notion that they can just trade him away and get everything back, and you know, you can get a twenty nineteen or twenty twenty Paul George like offer. That's not coming for a thirty four, thirty three year old Kawhi Leonard that's just not so, you know, they they made the decision to extend him for a reason. He like we just mentioned, he is

a known playoff performer. He puts people in the seats, and I know that that's not really an issue for Clippernation because Clipper Nation has sold out a lot of games over the past decade plus. But he is one of the key cogs of why the Clippers are one of these franchises that people want to come to. Now he is one of the reasons why. And it's Paul George as well that that tandem right there. But it's a reason why they could get players like James Harden.

It's the reason why James Harden wanted to resign. It's one of the big reasons why Russell Westbrook chose to come here, is because there's that welcoming kind of attitude. But it's also like, hey, if Kawhi and Paul George want to stay here and they want to sign multiple contracts here, then I do too. So you know, it just goes to show like this this organization, this front office, especially with the looming Lakers kind of presence. Now it's

down the freeway. They have to keep a competitive team around and Steve Balmer on multiple occasions as said, I am not into the rebuilding business. I am not into that. I will retool, which is I feel like what they did this year, but I will never rebuild. And trading away Kawhi would signal a rebuild. They're not doing that, and he is still Adam, We've talked this whole time

about how good Kawhi is in the playoffs. I know that he's been injured, but the upside of him, if he is healthy, that is what they're leaning on, and that's what they should lean on because Paul George and a lot of people have been, oh my goodness, Adam on my social media about me talking about Paul George. They have been on me about saying that he didn't

deserve that Max contract. The thing that we know about Kawhi that we didn't know about Paul George is that in the postseason, when the calendar turns to April and May and June, we know that Kawhi Leonard can get it done. We know that he can beat the teams in the West that will face that they will face. We didn't know that about Paul George. And in twenty twenty one, he had a great run, but after that

he was injured. In twenty two, got the COVID in the play in in twenty twenty three, he was hurt, didn't even get to see him, and this passed off season. This past postseason, he was nineteen points per game on forty one percent shooting. So when you have a guy like Kawhi Leonard, sure the injuries are there, but when he is healthy, you know what you're gonna get, and that's what the front office is banking on. They're not

going to trade him. I mean, it's just kind of an idiotic statement by a lot of people in my opinion, because the front office knows that the upside is there, and with Paul George they did not. And if you want to compete in Los Angeles, if you want to be a championship team in Los Angeles and in the NBA, you're gonna have to keep Kawhi Leonard around. Guys, You're gonna have to keep guys like James Harden around. So, I don't know, people kind of get a little bit

too trigger happy. I feel like Adam when we're talking about these things, because they feel like, hey, the team's just gonna accept any deal. You know, Hey, give me all your first round picks and some good players in return. It's not how it works in the new CBA. That's just not how it works.

the last five years greatly. Unfortunately, it's not just Kawhi. Look over the past couple of years, Giannis has been injury prone, Asn't layed, Joe El Embiid has been injury prone. It is survival of the fittest or the healthiest, and it's a war of attrition. But there are very few players well, anybody can get injured. There are very few players that win healthy are a top five player in

the league like Kawhi. Leonard is in a stone cold killer in the playoffs the way he is, and I think most people, maybe outside of Jokic, would take Kawhi as I don't know, the first or second best playoff performer if healthy in a seven game series today, just because of his reputation and what we've seen over the years. So I hope he's going to be able to be healthy. Guys, I hope the swelling isn't a recurring issue, a reoccurring issue.

I do have my concerns over that. I'm not putting anything into what occurred later today with that report that had Kawhi Leonard trending. Now, if things change, if somebody verifies it, if somebody reputable does, like Grant, like Lot Murray, like Tomarazarali who was on here earlier loved to man, that will change how I feel about the situation. Until then, though, I'm not any more concerned about Kawhi than I was yesterday.

That's my position. We're all hoping for better health and better luck for this Clippers team because it's just been unbelievably bad luck. Because Brian Seeman would say, you know, if they just had bad luck and not miserable luck, not terrible unspeakable luck. This team would probably have won a championship by now, but it has been to the extreme when it came to the bad luck department in

the two and three era. Sadly, I want everybody to be hopeful coming into this season, but also realistic when it comes to the expectations for this team right now, the way the roster's constructed, and KAUWHI just let me know what he can play seven to ten games in a row, then I'll start saying, oh, okay, here we go. Championships back on the menu, boys, because even without Paul George Grant, if you can get into a seven game series, I don't care what seed they are, and Kawhi is healthy.

Nobody wants to see that Clippers team with a healthy Kawhi and James Harden because someone made a good point yesterday on the pot with Justin Rousseau. You know the Dallas Mavericks. They were constructed in a very similar fashion to the way this Clippers team is now. Two ISO heavy players as your stars, with a lot of wings and defenders around them, and they got to the NBA Finals, losing in five to the Boston Celtics. But they made that run. The Clippers aren't that far off from how

Dallas was built. Really, that's the truth. And I think they would have beat Dallas obviously in the first round if they had a healthy Kawhi Leonard. Plus they brought in a Dallas defender in Derek Jones Junior. Well, the

parallels they're pretty uh, they're pretty accurate right now. I would say that's not a bad comp I don't know, you think, you know, is it a long shot or overly optimistic that if they just have a healthy team, even with the way the roster is now, they could still make a run without Paul George in your.

last year. Nobody saw the Heat getting to the finals. I don't think a lot of people saw them the Dallas Mavericks getting to the finals either. And what seed were they, Adham? They were the five I've seed. So there are always teams and I've made this point a lot. There are always teams in the past three four years that made a run to the finals in twenty twenty one. Did we ever think that it would be Bucks Suns?

And maybe some people did, but we never thought that we would see Bucks Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals, but it just ended up playing out that way. So I think, Adam that if everything lines up, and like you mentioned, if they get into the playoffs with the defensive pieces that they've added, with a good role players that they have, Norm Powell being one of the guys that is kind of underrated in my opinion and should have been in heavier consideration for six Man of the

Year last year. All of that combined with James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, who in my opinion are still superstars. Some people don't like to consider James Harden a superstar anymore, he still can be and he still is in my opinion. You get that combination with the coaching of Tylo and JVG and the fact that even at the trade dead this year, Adam, maybe they make a move if they're in a spot to do so to improve the team. And that's obviously if everything goes according to plan. Yes

they can make a run. Yes they can. They are like you mentioned, I never even made that connection. That's actually a great observation by you, because yes, they.

he's fine. So until that changes, I'm going with that over a report from a social media site on China that people think could be Kawhai's agent. That's where I stand on the issue. If things change, believe me, we'll have another live here for you on Clippers Talk if that is the case. But I love everybody for being here, putting up with the technical issues, putting up with me. This has been a lot of fun. Grant, that ain't your fault. Believe me, it's the stream. It ain't you,

my friend, Grant Mona. Where can they find you and where can they look forward to seeing more of you throughout this Clipper season.

support as well. Guys, So thanks for having me on, Adam, I appreciate it.