The Clippers championship may be the biggest joke of the 21st century, but the championship is disappointing every year, and the Clippers were eliminated by the Mavericks 4-2 in the playoffs this year to stop in the first round.
In this round of the series, Leonard once again played only 2 games due to injury and lost, as the team boss not only missed the G6 life and death battle, but also did not even follow the team to the scene to cheer, and finally the team lost 114-101 to end the playoff journey.
You must know that this season, the management once again chose to believe in him and completed a 3-year contract extension with a super cap salary of 150 million. And this time, his behavior completely hurt the team and the fans who supported the Clippers, and became the target of everyone's condemnation and anger.
The invincibility of the offseason, the sweat of the preseason, the fight and retirement of the regular season, and the suits and leather shoes of the playoffs have also become the epitome of Leonard's recent years. The Clippers played only 230 games in six seasons, with a 47% attendance rate, making him the lowest-paid player in league history, and he hasn't played a full playoff game in the past four years.
In response to Leonard's right knee inflammation, the NBA medical agency investigation showed that there was no connection with his previous injury history. At the same time, some professionals analyzed the reasons for his injury: in recent years, Leonard has been in a state of minor injuries and large recuperation, regardless of whether he is injured or not, as long as he feels a little uncomfortable, he will take turns to rest, and his body can no longer adapt to high-intensity games in the long run. It just so happened that he played 68 regular season games this season in order to be able to renew his contract, and the high intensity and intense schedule eventually led to a knee load, in other words, Leonard has been recuperated.
In this way, Leonard's injury this time belongs to the kind of situation that can be played or not, maybe he is just used to taking turns to rest. (Or maybe he's really afraid that the injury will get worse like he did before, but I'd rather believe he prefers to take a rotational break.)
Now his state has made everyone forget how powerful a healthy Leonard really is.
Back in the 2011 NBA Draft, he was drafted by the Pacers with the 15th pick in the first round and then traded to the Spurs because Popovich wanted to build him into a defensive bolt and become the next Bruce Bowen.
But Leonard doesn't think so, he has learned a lot from the aging GDP, and he also learned offensive skills from Maddie, plus he has worked shooting. In the third year of his career, he won the championship with the team, and was selected as the MVP of the Finals by successfully limiting James.
In the following two seasons, he was named to the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive Team, successfully took over the team's banner from Duncan, and his career entered its peak. Then in the Western Conference finals against the Warriors, he was reimbursed by Pachuria's season and his Spurs career was also lost.
Leonard then had a different opinion with the Spurs' medical team about his injury, and he even refused to play, and the management conflict deepened, and he was eventually sent to the Raptors. However, in just one season, he led the team all the way to the Finals with an absolutely outstanding performance, and successfully avenged the Warriors to win the championship and become a god.
At that time, it was not an exaggeration to say that he was the first person in the league. When he joined the Clippers, Leonard vowed to help the team win the first championship in team history, and now it seems that the Clippers and the championship have drifted apart after a few seasons, and there is no hope for the future.