Hello everyone, I am basketball fireworks jun, I will continue to bring you NBA dry goods, if you like fireworks jun, please click to follow, wonderful content do not miss. The trigger for this article is because in the playoff series in which the Clippers played the Suns, Leonard suddenly suspended in the fourth game, Fireworks Jun felt it, Leonard this player, don't look at the face looks humble and old-fashioned, but in fact, his shrewdness, calculation and selfishness are engraved in the bones, Fireworks Jun inventory Leonard's career resume, for everyone to interpret a real Leonard in detail.
In the 2011 draft, Kawaii Leonard was picked by the Pacers with the 15th pick in the first round, and the unassuming young man did not attract a lot of attention at the time, but the discerning Spurs coach Popovich discovered this talent and traded George Hill for the Pacers in order to get him.
George Hill is Popovich's lover, is to watch Hill from an unknown small role, to a good guard above the league average, Hill was only 24 years old at the time, with unlimited prospects, originally planned to let him succeed 29-year-old Tony Parker, on the night of the transaction, Popovich sent a text message to Hill,
George Hill with Popovich
"I know you're a good guy, a professional player and I love you, but for the sake of the team I had to do it and I apologise to you."
Leonard began to receive formal basketball training in his sophomore year of high school, only played in college for two years, the school was not a good school, and the performance was not very bright, Leonard at that time, in addition to excellent physical fitness, good defense, other looks useless, at the time of the draft, Leonard's template floor is Luke Bamot, the upper limit is Gerard Wallace, from which it can also be seen that the evaluation of Leonard's development by scouts at that time was either a league gate that focused on defense and three-pointers, or a cut-in forward without the ball, in short In the eyes of scouts at the time, Leonard did not have the ability to hold the ball and attack the toughness, in other words, to develop into an excellent role player, it was already burning high incense.
Bamot and Wallace
But apparently, Popovich didn't think so, he set Leonard a complete and effective evolutionary course, the first year to hone defense, this year Leonard nearly 2 steals per 36 minutes, 7.7 rebounds, and nearly 50% of frontcourt rebounds, but only one turnover. In the second and third years of strengthening his shooting ability, Leonard's three-point shooting percentage increased by 6 percentage points compared to his rookie season, and the shooting percentage remained basically the same, it can be said that Leonard in the first three years has grown into an excellent 3D player.
But Popovich obviously wants to go further, because he sees more potential in Leonard, in the fourth year, Leonard developed the ability to hold the ball, the usage rate soared from 18.3% to 23.0%, (3D players are generally below 25%), and by Leonard's sixth year with the Spurs, his usage rate had reached 31.1%, the rebounding rate dropped to a career-low 9.8%, and the assist rate was a career-high 18.9%, which shows that after six years of hard work, Leonard has become the first core of the league, which in addition to Leonard's personal efforts, is also inseparable from the efforts of the Spurs and Popovich.
In terms of team record, Leonard reached the Western Conference Finals with the team in his first year as a rookie, in six games against the Thunder, Leonard averaged only 8.8 points per game, and in the second year of the Finals, Leonard missed a thousand-dollar free throw in the final moments of the game, and then Ray Allen made a shocking three points, the Spurs missed the championship, and in the third year, the Spurs made a comeback, defeating the Heat 4-1 on the Finals stage, and surprisingly, the Finals MVP was awarded to Leonard.
According to the rules of the NBA, the Finals MVP is generally awarded to the team boss, except for rare cases, outside the Spurs, public opinion gushed, unanimously believing that Leonard robbed Duncan's FMVP, but the open-minded and generous Duncan did not care, standing behind Leonard who held the FMVP, smiling happier than anyone.
Mention this round of the finals, Leonard won FMVP, so that many fans think that because Leonard defended James, in fact, this is an illusion, in the five games of the finals, James averaged 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 3.8 turnovers, shooting 57.1%, three-point shooting rate is 51.9%, Leonard's performance is equally good, but it is not comparable to James, and he is not the Spurs' first attack point, The reason why the Spurs won the Heat this year is that the defense of the whole team cuts off the connection between James and other teammates, although James is not afraid of Leonard's defense, but basketball is a five-man sport, a violent James, can not beat the team-based Spurs.
Although the Spurs' team defense also has Leonard's credit, this credit is obviously not enough to support him to take FMVP from Duncan or Parker, in other words, Leonard this year is overrated.
However, Leonard at that time, low-key, taciturn, and the Spurs team atmosphere is very suitable, GDP is aging year by year, the newly rising Leonard will be the new pillar of the Spurs, this point, not only Popovich agreed, all Spurs non-Spurs fans also agreed.
Time soon came to the 2017 Western Conference semifinals G1, Leonard stepped on Pachuria's foot in a jumper again (this matter cannot be determined, it cannot be said that it is Pachuria pad), Leonard season reimbursement, pay attention to the picture at that time, Leonard covered not his own ankle, but knee, Pachuria's kick, completely changed the Spurs' team luck, but also changed Leonard's career.
Leonard after the injury, showed his usual taciturn character, for his injury, Leonard does not report, does not report, does not tell, and speaks to the outside world, is not able to trust the Spurs' medical team, the relationship between the Spurs and Leonard began to be abnormal, the new season of the Spurs began, but Leonard still did not play after exceeding the comeback time given by the team doctor, at a press conference, Popovich publicly stated that he did not know Leonard's injury, I don't know when he will come back, the last time he spoke with Leonard on the phone was two weeks ago.
Popovich's words came out, the entire NBA was in an uproar, to know that since Popovich took over the Spurs in the nearly 20 years, the Spurs are almost the most united team in the league, even if some thorns such as Stephen Jackson, or Tracy McGrady, who has repeatedly contradicted management, came to the Spurs and had to be a man with his tail between his legs, and this time, a good student in people's eyes, but made a moth, the Spurs have stood in the West for nearly two decades, making countless enemies, many media, Fans widened their eyes and craned their necks, waiting to watch the spurs and see Popovich's jokes.
But Leonard still did not speak.
Shortly after Popovich's press conference, another big melon broke out, Tony Parker was dissatisfied with Leonard's cover-up attitude, called everyone for a player meeting, and finally the meeting broke up, Leonard briefly played 9 games, and then suspended due to injury, these 9 games are Leonard's entire game this season.
It is worth mentioning that just this season, Popovich's wife suffered from cancer and died during the first round of the playoffs, the entire NBA including the beautiful national ZT, Clinton issued a message of condolences, Popovich while dealing with family affairs, while busy with the team, but also to worry about Leonard's bloody affairs, public opinion began to condemn Leonard, and called on him to come out to explain the situation, but Leonard still did not say a word, the playoffs did not play four games, not only that, the master and mother died, Leonard did not say anything, There was not even a post of condolences on social media.
On April 23, according to grapevine, (Sporting News' American reporter) broke the news that just a few days after his mother's death, Leonard was in Los Angeles, privately contacting the Lakers, and next year's contract ended, he will join Los Angeles as a free agent.
Sure enough, after the end of the season, in June 2018, Leonard publicly asked for a trade, and named him to go to his hometown team Los Angeles Lakers, and of course, gave the Spurs a choice, That is, 5 years 219 million early salary renewal, and did not accept any salary cuts, according to rumors, at that time Popovich wanted to meet Leonard in a private capacity, you know, in 2000, Duncan was almost fooled by Rivers to leave the Spurs, it was Popovich who met Duncan in a private capacity, which left Duncan, this time, obviously Popovich wanted to repeat the trick, but Leonard's team, refused Popovich's request, do not meet, to meet, must be other members of the team present.
Leonard's uncle, Robertson, was a major member of Leonard's team
The Spurs obviously want to keep Leonard, but they don't want to give the top salary, and the reason why Leonard's team released the news that they want to trade, is not that they want to leave the Spurs with an iron heart, after all, only the Spurs can offer a 5-year super top salary, and they do this to put pressure on the Spurs management.
On July 7, the Spurs suddenly traded Tony Parker to the Hornets, this deal is very strange, claiming that the Spurs want Parker to play third point guard, and the annual salary is only given to 2 years 5 million veteran base salary, and Parker thinks that he still has oil in the tank and does not want to play the bench, this set of rhetoric is self-defeating after Parker came to the Hornets, because Parker played 56 games on the bench in the Hornets, did not play a starter, averaging less than 18 minutes per game, and last year's Parker played 34 of his 55 games as a substitute, averaging 19 minutes per game. Parker didn't say anything at the time.
Is it because of the money? It is also impossible, the Hornets gave Parker 10 million in 2 years, 5 million more than the Spurs, to know that Parker earned a total of more than $160 million in the NBA, it is unlikely that for a mere 5 million, leave the Spurs who have played for 17 years, and even if Parker has to ask for this 5 million, with Parker's merits, and the Spurs' crotch record this season, the Spurs are impossible not to give, it is even more unlikely to rub the championship, one Parker does not lack championships, and FMVP, the two Hornets are the most famous century-old rotten teams in the league, There is simply no strength to win the championship.
The only explanation is that Parker once had a conflict with Leonard, and traded Parker to appease Leonard's emotions and increase the possibility of his stay. Because Parker's late season is not guaranteed, the GDP combination does not end up with all the Spurs, which is an eternal regret in the hearts of all Spurs.
The news of Leonard's request for a trade quickly spread throughout the league, and the other 29 teams except the Lakers sat firmly on the fishing platform, all sent trade offers to the Spurs, but they were all "thunder and rain", basically role players + draft picks, such as the Cavaliers, the chips given were Sexton + Osman + Nance Jr. + Clarkson, the Celtics gave chips, Hayward + Rozier + first-round picks + second-round picks, and the 76ers claimed that in addition to Embiid and Simmons, the rest were picked at random... The point is, besides these two, what else do you have? ...... The Lakers also pretended and handed over Kuzma + Hart + Randle + first-round picks,
Leonard's trade, not as fanatical as imagined, one is that Leonard's injury is unknown, and the other is that Leonard will go to Los Angeles after the end of the contract, and they are also afraid of paying huge chips to only get Leonard's one-year use rights, which makes the Spurs very passive in the trade, and finally the Raptors made an offer, impressing the Spurs, DeRozan + Bolt + first-round pick, for Leonard + Danny Green, it can be seen that DeRozan is the biggest player in all teams, Although a little older, the Spurs did not have the right to say no, and Leonard was traded to the Raptors on July 19, opening a new page in his career.
Later, everyone knows, Leonard led the Raptors, after killing the Magic in the first round, Leonard contributed a shocking shot in the second round, defeated the favorite 76ers 4:3, and then killed the Bucks, defeated the Warriors 4:2 in the finals, completed the first championship in team history, for a while, Leonard was crowned the "first man in the league", "Cajodan" and "Warriors dynasty terminator", all kinds of unbearable experiences in the past, all disappeared, and no one mentioned it again.
But for this champion, Fireworks-kun still has something to say.
First, before Leonard came to the Raptors, the Raptors were a strong team, with 59 wins last year than this season, just two seasons ago, the Raptors also reached the Eastern Conference Finals, the reason why they did not go further is because they just lack a person who can play a game at a critical moment.
Second, the role of teammates cannot be ignored by Leonard's outstanding performances alone, including Danny Green's 45.5% three-point shooting throughout the season, including the hard support of Mark Gasol and Sergi Ibaka inside, including Pascal Siakam's rapid growth, including the career-high 8.7 assists of second-in-command Kevin Lowry.
Third, luck, I have to say, competitive sports, luck also accounts for a large part, including Leonard's bottom corner in G7, including the Finals Klay Thompson, Durant and Rooney's injury, of course, luck is also part of the strength, if Leonard does not have strength, even if Lady Luck comes, he can't shoot that ball.
For example, Leonard wanted to eat peaches, but couldn't reach them, so he moved the ladder, and after going up the ladder, he still couldn't reach it, just at this time, a breeze blew through, blowing down the value of the peaches, Leonard picked the peaches, in short, his champion, is standing on the shoulders of giants.
In the offseason, Leonard, who became a free agent, put all the calculations and shrewdness in his heart on the bright side, and it is also the most exciting part of this article, Leonard's wonderful operation, let you know what is called "Ming Xiu Plank Road Darkness Chen Cang".
In the offseason after winning the championship, Leonard, who became a free agent, became the biggest fish in the free market, and the free market staged a bloody drama of "where to go for the little card" that lasted for half a month.
Obviously, his goal is the Lakers, so other teams are hardly in the competition, but the Raptors very much want Leonard to stay in Toronto and have made a huge effort.
For Leonard, Toronto can be said to be a city-wide mobilization, and even the mayor of Toronto came forward to persuade Leonard to stay, VanVleet said: "In order to keep Leonard, we have done our best." The team did their best, the coaches, the teammates, the city and even the country did their best, we have done what we can, I think he understands everyone's intentions, he understands how special it is. ”
When the Raptors representative met with Leonard, Canadian TV made an exception to broadcast the whole process, Raptors image spokesperson Drake used his own special plane to pick up Leonard, tens of thousands of Raptors fans flocked to the meeting location, hoping that Leonard could stay, a real estate developer said that as long as Leonard can stay, he gave him a villa for free, a restaurant is proposed that Leonard can eat for free at his restaurant for life, and funny, the mayor of Toronto said that as long as Leonard can stay in Toronto , himself this mayor gave him ... The Raptors have prepared a top salary of 190 million for Leonard for 5 years, and the Raptors and Toronto have shown all the sincerity they can.
But Leonard still did not make his position clear.
At the same time, Leonard's favorite Lakers are also in action, on July 2, a lobby group composed of more than a dozen Lakers brains such as Lakers boss, LeBron James, team owner Jenny Bass, general manager Pelinka, Lakers celebrity, and Magic Johnson who has just stepped down from the Lakers president position met with Leonard.
Compared with the Raptors, the Lakers' advantage is very obvious, in terms of team heritage, the Lakers can be said to crush the Raptors, in terms of team strength, although the Lakers did not enter the playoffs last season, but Jenny Buss put the Lakers' plan and inventory this year, the team has basically negotiated with the Pelicans, Pelicans boss Anthony Davis can basically be sure that he will join the Lakers in a few days, on the basis of the original LeBron James, Leonard joins the Lakers, will form a terrifying Big Three combination.
Billboard for the Lakers recruiting Leonard
In addition, in terms of money, although the Lakers can only provide Leonard with a 4-year top salary of 142 million, Los Angeles' taxes are about 8% less than the Raptors, and Leonard's money in the first four years is about $11 million more than the Raptors.
Such meetings are generally closed to the public, so there will be no official team announcement, but after the meeting, the American media quickly exposed the content of the meeting, such as Kendrick Perkins, who joined the "ESPN Big Mouth Army" after retiring, said that according to the information he received, the atmosphere of the meeting was very harmonious, and Leonard raised the status of the team. Questions such as whether the team has conflicts and their own contracts and medical teams have been properly answered by the Lakers lobby, and Leonard is expected to wear the purple and gold jersey in the next 3-4 days.
Patrick Perkins after retirement
Perkins had joined the Cavaliers in the twilight of his career, had teammates with James and had a good relationship, and the authenticity of his words should be guaranteed, but surprisingly, the flame generated by this two-way rush between Leonard and the Lakers suddenly cooled down as if it had been doused with a soak of urine.
I don't know why, in Perkins' mouth this "very pleasant" meeting, but still did not get Leonard's affirmative answer, a full 5 days have passed, Leonard still did not say positively, what happened, everyone does not know.
Leonard and the Lakers are not progressing well, another team in Los Angeles, the Clippers quietly surfaced, in fact, on July 2, Leonard and the Lakers after the meeting, there was also a meeting with representatives of the Clippers, but it may be because the Clippers themselves are not confident, they sent out a lobby group far less powerful than the Lakers, after all, in front of Leonard's purpose Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Lakers who are about to form the James thick eyebrow double giant, the Clippers are not in place either money or lineup, Their meeting was quickly skipped by the media without making a wave.
In the soap opera that lasted for half a month, the Clippers became the first team to go out, and people's eyes were generally on the Raptors and Lakers, on July 11, 2019, the Clippers suddenly announced a deal with the Thunder, Paul George joined the Clippers, and the Clippers paid Gallinari, Alexander, five first-round picks, and two future first-round swaps.
This deal made everyone's jaws drop, before the free market opened, everyone's eyes were attracted to Leonard, did not notice the negotiations between the Thunder and the Clippers, and what is even more incomprehensible is that the Clippers are desperate in order to get Paul George, Gallinari is a very capable starter-level forward, Alexander is an extremely potential league star, this is not to mention, the Clippers also took 7 first-round picks, the last one until 2026!
Even if Paul George played the best season of his career last year and was selected for the league's double team, but George, who has turned 29, was never an MVP-level star before last year, this deal can be said that the Thunder made a lot of money, and the operation of the Clippers made everyone incomprehensible, when the Clippers overdrew the team's eight-year future for Paul George, but the problem is that even if the Clippers get Paul George, with their current roster, it is impossible to make any waves in the West. Clippers general manager Jerry West is known for his shrewdness, how could he make such a loss-making deal this time?
Just before everyone could react in shock, Leonard officially announced that he joined the Clippers for $142 million in 4 years, and everyone's jaws dropped in shock... While the Clippers finally won the Leonard battle, it also meant the defeat of the Raptors and Lakers, the Raptors lost Leonard, their strength plummeted, salary space was compressed, and they could not be recruited, but the people of Toronto did not hate Leonard, but sent Leonard blessings and encouragement, in their opinion, Leonard is a free body, no matter where he goes, it is his freedom.
In the Leonard battle, the biggest loss is undoubtedly the Lakers, in order to wait for Leonard's decision, the Lakers have a lot of salary space but dare not give it away, allowing the excellent players in the free market to be picked one by one, after Leonard officially announced his joining the Clippers, there are some small fish and shrimp left in the free market, but the Lakers officially announced the trade of Anthony Davis on July 7, which is the most important and correct decision this summer, next season with the double big combination of James thick eyebrows, in this shrinking season, In the end, he won the championship.
In 2019, Leonard joined the Clippers, because the teams are not public, so no one can say the ins and outs of this, but we can still get some information from the revelations of some informed media people to guess what happened at that time.
On October 11, according to the famous NBA reporter Mike Trudell, Leonard had a very good conversation when he met with the Lakers lobby, but in a blink of an eye, he called Jenny Buss and asked the team to trade LeBron James, because he only wanted to be the boss, did not want to play for James, and played next to James, the pressure was too much, James got this message through personal connections and immediately sent a message to Xiao Ka, the message was only a few words,
"Two years later, the Lakers are yours."
But who is Leonard, James's words, can fool the thick eyebrows, can not fool Leonard, and then in the continuous tug-of-war with the Lakers, Leonard's attitude is also very clear, he can not coexist with James, if he wants to join the Clippers, the team must trade James, and team owner Jenny Buss firmly stands on James' side in the choice between James and Leonard, for no other reason, even if James is old, but the competitive state has not declined significantly, Moreover, the huge commercial value on James, ten Leonards tied together are not as good as James alone.
At the same time, the Los Angeles Times published an explosive news, it is known that after Leonard met with the Lakers lobby, he also met with the Clippers lobby, at this time Leonard already knew that Buss was unlikely to trade James for himself, and from that moment on, the Lakers had been excluded, so Leonard turned his attention to his other hometown team, the Lakers' sworn enemy, the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers have several aspects to be better than the Lakers, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is richer than Lakers owner Jenny Buss, the financial strength of the two is not in the same order of magnitude at all, and Ballmer also likes basketball and is willing to spend money for the team, so that in the future, his contract will inevitably not be instigated, and Ballmer knows that professional people will do professional things, so he basically does not interfere in the daily operation of the team, and Jenny Buss has a stronger sense of control, if he joins the Lakers, Third, the Clippers' history is thin, and if he plays well in the Clippers, or leads the team to the top to win the championship, he is expected to become the totem of a team.
Clippers owner Ballmer
But the problem is that the Clippers' lineup is too bad, go alone, the team is not a championship-level strong team, there is no point, Leonard not only wants money, but money and honor, in order to put pressure on the Clippers, Leonard while releasing the news, saying that he is still undecided, while personally flying to Marbury Beach, privately discussing chips at Rivers' seaside villa, proposing that as long as the Clippers can get Paul George, he will join the Clippers, just for Leonard's promise, Team general manager Jerry West did not hesitate to overdraft the team's nearly eight-year future and get Paul George at all costs.
ESPN authoritative reporter Ramona reported that just two hours before Leonard officially announced that he was going to join the Clippers, he sent a text message to Lakers owner Jenny Bass, saying that the Lakers want to get themselves, must delay the thick eyebrow trade for no reason, Leonard did this for a simple reason, that is, if the Clippers trade Paul George fails, he will turn around and join the Lakers, and once the Lakers get the thick eyebrows in advance, there is no way to provide Leonard with a top salary, Leonard can only be forced to accept a salary cut, This is something that Leonard firmly cannot tolerate.
After this report was issued, the entire NBA was shocked by Leonard's shrewdness and calculation, and the usually gentle James posted on social media, "Stop playing me!" And with an angry expression, it can be seen that James is really angry this time.
James Social Media
It can be seen that in the choice of where Leonard goes, he has a total of three decisions, the upper strategy, in the Clippers, and Paul George to form a double forward giant, or with thick eyebrows in the Lakers to form a double giant, to exclude James, the middle strategy, with James, thick eyebrows to form the Big Three, but their own salary will be affected, the next strategy to join the Clippers alone, from beginning to end, staying in the Raptors is not in Leonard's plan. In the whole process of Leonard's choice of home, the clouds flowed, and the secrecy was extremely high, step by step, leaving himself a way out, even at the expense of the Raptors, Lakers and others.
As soon as the news came out, the NBA was in an uproar, and "CarJordan", who just led the Raptors to the championship last season, instantly became synonymous with selfishness and black belly, "heart card", "belly black card" and "selfish card" various nicknames roared out, Leonard's wind evaluation fell to the bottom.
At the same time, Leonard's contract to join the Clippers is not 142 million for 4 years, but 103 million for 3 years, and the last year is a player option, and when this contract expires, Leonard, who has completed his seniority, can sign a super contract worth $250 million with the team for 5 years! (Unfortunately, Leonard in 21 years because of a torn cruciate ligament, season reimbursement, no hope of getting the top salary, and then signed a 4-year 170 million contract with the Clippers, which expires in 2025)
After all, the NBA is a business league, winning is the most powerful weapon to defeat all rumors, just like Leonard led the Raptors to win the championship, the previous year's Spurs those unbearable things, no one mentioned again, and Leonard, who came to the Clippers, will lead the team to the championship?
In the 2019-2020 season, Leonard averaged 27.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game, it should be said that the strength is still steady, leading the Clippers to a 49-23 record, ranking second in the West, and the semifinals Clippers were eliminated by the Nuggets in three games with a 3-1 lead.
However, the focus of media attention is not on how many times Rivers has led 3:1, but in G6, the Clippers were reversed by the Nuggets by 19 points, in the game, George and the Clippers' backup Harrell once clashed, after the game Harrell in the player tunnel, leisurely whistled, Harrell's behavior in this game, can be regarded as completely publicizing the team's contradictions.
After Leonard and George joined the Clippers, they enjoyed the benefits and privileges of the Clippers beyond the scope of players, including the fact that the two have bodyguards and personal trainers independent of the team, and can decide and change the team's training time and travel time, because Leonard is often late, resulting in all the players on the team sitting in the bus waiting for him, and what is more unacceptable to other players is that Leonard proposed a long-standing "body load management", and decided whether to play the next game.
Leonard's so-called "body load management" was unheard of and unseen before, and then it intensified, and on April 1, 2023, not long ago, Leonard directly came to an unprecedented "half-time rotation".
The Clippers played the Grizzlies, the Clippers led by 19 points in the first quarter, and the Grizzlies played another 34:17 in the quarter to chase the score back, and at halftime, the Clippers suddenly announced that Leonard would not play in the second half, on the grounds that it was to prepare for tomorrow's game against the Pelicans, and everyone did not know that Leonard only played half of the game, and everyone was confused... Half-time rotation, this is really a knife ass - an eye opener ... For the first time in NBA history, this has happened...
This game Wei Shao tried his best to cut 36 points, but the team was still turned over by the Grizzlies, and soon after the game, the media broke out, because tomorrow's game against the Pelicans is a live broadcast in the United States, Leonard wants to show his best state in the live broadcast to show himself, Leonard's abacus is really good, against the Pelicans, Leonard played extremely well, scoring 40 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block, but the team still lost the game.
It is worth mentioning that Leonard also made a history in the game against the Pelicans, that is, this game is Leonard's first back-to-back game since April 10, 2021, that is, 722 days ago, Fireworks Jun seriously doubts, is Leonard still thinking that he is a broken cauldron - actually broke his rule of not playing back-to-back games, Clippers players have to thank themselves?
This is off-topic, we involve the topic in the 2020 playoffs Clippers contradiction, when the Clippers split into two groups, one is Leonard, Paul George's new Clippers gang, the other is the old Clippers gang represented by Beverley, Louwe, Harrell, the two do not communicate with each other, each on social media, openly and secretly post sarcastic about each other, at the beginning the team can still win, covering up the team contradiction, this loss, can not be suppressed at all.
In the Clippers' old and new camps, the team's owner Ballmer and head coach Doug Rivers are obviously more inclined to lead Leonard as the new Clippers gang, after all, they are superstars, and then we saw that Harrell, who won the super sixth man in the regular season, was almost abandoned in the playoffs and was cleared out at the end of the season, and Beverley and Lewis were traded away in the last two years.
In the first round of the 2022-2023 playoffs, the Clippers played the Suns, Leonard suddenly decided to take a break in the case of Paul George's delay in returning, combined with Leonard's previous shrewd personality, which inevitably makes people think that he has given up this season, in order to maintain good health, without continuing to stay on the court to play unnecessary games, the next two seasons for another two years, This four-year, $170 million contract expires, and he can sign a big contract again, after all, the situation of missing a big contract due to injury has already happened once before.
As of press time, the fifth game between the Clippers and the Suns has not yet begun, I don't know if Leonard can play this game, let's wait and see.
What kind of player do you think Leonard is, welcome to comment, let's discuss together.