Kawhi Leonard had the entire NBA world in a bit of a frenzy yesterday when it was revealed that he would be missing the Los Angeles Clippers' big game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. The reasoning for his absence was "load management" due to a nagging knee injury. It's only the second week of the NBA season so many people were upset to hear Kawhi would already be sitting out games. There was a bit of an overreaction to the news and eventually, the NBA had to come out and say they officially approved his absence from the game.
While speaking to SportsCenter on Wednesday night, the always entertaining Stephen A. Smith gave his viewpoint on Kawhi's "load management" and came through with a unique perspective that hadn't been espoused during the ruckus yesterday.
“Kawhi Leonard isn’t 100% healthy,” Smith said. “There is legitimacy to that left knee injury he’s suffering from. And if you’re a Clippers fan, you don’t give a damn because it’s November. You’ll care on April, May, and June. I can assure you Clippers fans are not complaining about the few games he’s going to miss because they know where they expect to see him come playoff time.”
Without Leonard in the lineup, the Clippers went on to lose a tight game against the Bucks so it's easy to see why fans were upset in the moment. Leonard means a lot to that team but in the end, the playoffs are what's truly important at this point.
[Via]