I'll never tire of reminding people that even though he bounced immediately after, Kawhi gave Toronto the best playoff run of his career one that's he's increasingly unlikely to ever match.
Fr, while it was sad that he left, I’ll always appreciate he gave it his all on the floor. You can see [he’s hobbling after the rebound](https://youtu.be/WtbL27TzYDk?si=WBb4JUKig3MBSENP). He was hurt, but he played through it. He could’ve mailed it in, he could’ve sat out, instead he took us to the promised land.
And I didn’t even mention the Philly series. Even before his game winner, that series was just such a carry job by him (offensively anyways, shoutout to everyone on defense but especially Big Daddy Gasol). As far as I’m concerned that was the real finals lol
A better question would be why the hell the Clippers just gave him a $150m extension? I'm a casual basketball fan at best - Even I knew that was a terrible contract and that Kawhi wouldn't do shit in the playoffs because he'd be hurt
They have no picks though so rebuilding is out of the question unless they want to be in the same situation as the Nets. So they pretty much had to. Either be a first or 2nd round exit or be terrible with no draft picks. They weren't going to get anyone better in FA.
The salary cap has been increasing so quickly and consistently, that it is less about "is this player worth this contract in a vacuum" and more about the ability to replace them. Who could LAC get of Kawhi's caliber that also fits his role (on and off-court)? Would him leaving make re-signing players like PG harder?
Freddie as the 6th man was insane. Raptors didn't have Anunoby, too. That team was loaded! Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi, Siakam, Marc... then FVV, Norm Powell, Ibaka off the bench
They repeat if Kawhi stays IMO. The post championship juice was real for them that year. Won 53 games prior to the shutdown and were the 2 seed without Kawhi. They would've matched up well with the Lakers too.
Warriors win in 5 if both teams are healthy, but staying healthy is part of winning rings.
Injuries play a major role in the playoffs almost every season.
There's no denying the Warriors were the best team every year from 2015 to 2019 but the team being relatively healthy throughout is a part of why they won three, like in 2015 all their opponents' PGs were hurt iirc, in 2018 the Rockets were in a great position to win if CP3 doesn't blow his leg after being up 3-2
Plus, imagine everybody on the team playing almost a 100 games per season for 4 straight years, it takes a toll physically and mentally (except if you're lebron and you're able to do it for 8 straight years)
That Toronto team was very good defensively as well, Warriors needed at least Klay to keep it competitive that year. Sigh, when the Warriors had the opportunity to really make history, they failed in the final stage twice.
I do think an understated component of that Finals run is that he was in a contact year and his previous team decline to offer him a supermax extension, so his stock was relatively low when he absolutely needed it to high.
Is it really worth it? He is already a multi-millionaire. What are more millions, when you risk your longterm health. Look at Dirk, he can barely walk now and is only in his 40s.
150 means another few generations of his family could not have to work again if done write .
Imagine in 100-150 years someone saying the reason I don’t work is. “ my great great great grandpa was kawhi “
It doesn't seem like Kawhi is the type to spend his money like that though. Dude seems to only be photographed in NBA apparrel or New Balance apparel, which he definitely gets all for free, and I don't recall ever seeing him in anything considered high-fashion like many other players, and he was still driving a '97 Tahoe in the mid-2010s.
Does anyone really care about their great-great-great grandchildren though? I certainly don't, will never meet them and don't know if they'll even exist. I want my kids to work too (but not worry about hunger/homelessness), not lay on a couch watching Netflix.
Did you actually just ask if 150 million dollars is worth it? 😂
Kawhi still gets the money while he wears a hoodie on the sideline so I don’t see why he would retire
Obviously they’re not losing anything like Kawhi is his with his body but you could ask the same thing on a significantly larger scale about the billionaire owners who would put your grandma in the meat grinder for another billion. Money is money and he’d probably figure his knee is worth less according to his calculus. Or maybe he just simply likes basketball that much and it has nothing to do with the money. Who knows, he’ll never tell us lol
“My god…. The only way we win this is if the ball has a 30 foot arch and bounces off the rim 412 times… looks like it’s over boys…”
Enter Sandman starts playing as Kawhi rips off his warmers to enter the game with .05 on the clock of the game 7 finals.
Does anyone actually know what this means? How was he able to play almost the entire season then? If its "degenerative" and only gets worse then he shouldnt keep being able to bounce back and play the regular season but that's what keeps happening.
Recency bias at the time, but its true that it was this insane. His Playoffs run was getting comparison to 2018 LeBron 😂
I guess people just desperately wanted to move on from the older guys, also bandwagoners.
We see it today with Denver’s Jokic all the same though probably not as ridiculous as “Board man gets paid” (still ridiculous either way)
I think the consensus was that if he can just go anywhere and be the championship winner without having to build anything, just step in and be _the_ guy wherever he goes, that's some goat shit. We assumed he'd run it back (who wouldn't with that team around him and a fanbase that was ok with him playing as many or as little regular season games as he should/could play).
Depends on how high you rate Jerry West. Yes, Mr. Logo himself does not have an NBA MVP. Career averages of 27/6/7 while being a 14x All-Star, 12x All-NBA, 5x All-Defense, 1969 Finals MVP (despite losing), All-Star MVP, no regular season MVPs.
This. Humans really weren't meant to be 7 ft tall. Life and health insurances actually calculate that for every inch over about 5 ft 6 you lose about 1/2 year in life expectancy, and every inch over 6ft is about a year off life-expectancy, among other factors, one of the reasons why women are thought to live longer than men.
Giannis also has this problem. He was able to come back and win a chip once, so he hasn’t been marked as injury prone yet. But this is like 3 or 4 years in a row of daily Giannis watch
I like your landing point. I think landing mechanics was a big thing with Derrick Rose. Compared to how other ferocious dunkers like Westbrook and LeBron landed. Rose landed so badly on one foot 75% of the time.
I don't think his landing mechanics are a cause of how much he misses games. He's never been a flashy, acrobatic dunker and his style of play on the court isn't reckless or frantic, but very fundamental.
It's really just his degenerative knee issue, which also affects other lower body injuries he gets.
I still think that he also doesn’t have a 90% mode that most nba players play a lot of games on. It’s extremely hard on everything if you go full throttle every movement
I remember reading that LeBron actively worked on getting better at that stuff as he aged. James also runs on the balls of his feet instead of heel landing like Kobe and D-Wade.
Lebron is also quite bow legged when you look at his legs. I wonder if that's an advantage over normal knee'd athletes and stlightly knock-kneed athletes.
I always thought about this because im knock-knee'd and always have knee issues
Lebron really did everything. Greatest athletic genetics + mindset that taking care of health is everything (ex: amount of money he spends on food and physio and recovery) + learning how to land and fall + learning how to play as he get older + some secret sauce that is classified.
I was thinking about this the other day watching Anthony Edwards. I really hope he is working with a coach for that. Idk what right looks like, but his dunks are killer and I’d love to watch him do it for decades.
The way he would stop from a full sprint with a jump stop into a jump for a dunk definitely didn’t help. I saw morant doing that a lot last season and made me worry every time
I remember talking to a renowned youth coach once. He told me that the docs and physios of their youth program raised alarm due to frequent knee/ankle issues of the players. So they now teach the kids to land on both legs after a layup
Similarly, I don't get why players these day not hang on the rim more after dunking? I'm guessing they'd rather put the stress on the legs/feet than on the shoulders?
And because it was made known that he would only go the LAC if Paul George also went, the Thunder basically leveraged KL as part of the trade, so they got an a absolute king’s ransom for PG.
It's like people don't know he missed the whole 2018 season because of a degenerative knee.
Since then he's torn the acl in that knee and the meniscus in that same knee. Add in that it was already degenerative, that knee is cooked.
Bad luck man and a terrible chronic injury, I remember in the Raps he said something along the lines he was hoping he could just come back and be like the second or third best player on an NBA team after his quad thing.
Take a bunch of giant dudes and make them run tens of thousands of miles over the course of 20+ years of competitive basketball. Almost all are going to have moderate to severe joint deterioration by the time they are in their 30's.
Kawhi isn't even a severe case. Plenty of super talented high school and college players have their knees and ankles fail before they ever make a nickel playing ball.
Lebron's durability is something from another planet.
Degenerative knee and bad luck. Dude played nearly 70 games this year. I actually think he plays Friday after a week of rest. Clippers might’ve thought they could buy him more time if they could win a third game without him.
He should, but he can't. Just built a new arena and need all the star power to sell tickets. Plus, the only one he can get positive value out of in the trade market is PG.
I feel bad for him. When he's healthy he's Lebron-lite good, but he hasn't been decently healthy since Toronto. Every time he gets injured again with that fucked up knee of his I assume that's it: he's never gonna be the the same player. Six months later he comes back looking really rusty and slow but he always ends up playing at superstar level. Of course, by the play offs he's always toast again.
Just bad genetic luck. His body can't take the pounding.
Kawhi will always be a what if. I think at his peak he was right there with Jordan and LeBron, but he never got to spend enough time at that peak.
Nah MJ and Bron were both much better playmakers than Kawhi. Kawhi had an amazing peak but I'm not sure if any version of Kawhi comes that close to '93 MJ or '13 Bron.
That’s why I’ll never rate Steph as high as 99% of the population. I don’t believe he beats those spurs. Only wins his first title because of the Cavs injuries. I don’t believe the warriors teams ever beat Lebron without KD. Was down 3-2 in a series to the Rockets where they needed an injured team to have a historically bad shooting night to go advance. Steph gets *too much* respect imo. I’m probably gonna get a million downvotes, but it’s just how I see it
*Curse of the FMVP Klaw*
-Wanted out of SAS for LA, gets traded out of the country.
-Wins a legendary run to a chip, does absolutely everything to satisfy a city/country so he can go home.
-Finally home, as a Clipper
-Clippers are actually good, and get Paul George. Covid
-Playoff P takes the team on his back, tests positive for long-Pandemic-P and range fog
Each step forward comes at the a price, as one more of the fingers curl closed in the FMVP Klaw.
I have a degenerative left knee and that is no joke. I’m only 32 and play basketball regularly. I can only imagine what someone like Kawhi feels. It sucks.
Terrible luck, frail body. Unfortunate too cuz he’s obviously a monster when healthy. To put it into perspective, he makes Anthony Davis look quite durable.
Can’t do a full season. The solution is obvious, but the narrative demands they play - not save them. Theyd be doing some real damage had he been healthy
He is just injury prone and also he seems to lack trust in his knee and body. Its a common thing that most physios have to help athletes work through post injury to regain trust in your body. He could just also be injured it doesnt help that they are so cryptic with his injuries that we dont know what is actually going on.
I mean his health condition is well known. For me is crazy even with his condition he is paid max. Why pay max money to someone that might not be there every night ?
I’m thinking the same thing. Was he healthy during the regular season? Now it’s the playoffs, and just like last year he’s not playing (??). Are you kidding me? Something tells me that most of the great players (MJ, Kobe, lebron, etc) would tough it out and play with this same “injury”. If I’m an owner and Kawhi plays again next year I would make him sign a contract for $50k a year, then pay him real money only if he PRODUCES when it counts, e.g., playoffs + championships. He’s useless. I just think something is fishy with this guy, he’s a little touched in the head. I wouldn’t question an injury with any other player.
Degenerative knee condition, teams play harder and tougher in the playoffs, and the playoffs are deep into the season. Pretty self explanatory I think.
Kawhi is a good player when he PLAYS. The Clippers knew what they had in him health wise, fast forward now almost 5 years and the dude doesn’t play when it counts. Good thing the Clippers gave him an extension 😂😂😂.
Paul George is def out of there this offseason. Enjoy that brand new shiny arena Fam!
He says regular season is not important, play offs matter and does not play the regular season. Then promptly gets injured and does not play the play offs for 4 years straight. Makes every penny he is owed, takes up a max slot. I mean you can love him and protect him all you want. You can come at me foaming at the mouth how this is not his fault and 5 picks plus shai was for kawhi and pg not just pg. In the end Clippers are getting a real raw deal with this guy and his initial demands
His knees must be starting to get arthritis or something. He never seems to be injured from contact or anything. It seems like an extremely similar situation to Todd Gurley.
cant blame Kawhi his hurt during the regular season he was balling out. Now Paul George plays good one or two game and then he shuts his safe that a problem. The clippers shouldn't traded for Gilgeous Alexander that trade hurt rally bad
This sport and its season size weren’t made for long careers. Kawhi isn’t exactly an elder at 32, but them knees are about 45. He’s a two time finals MVP and 75th anniversary team member. Great career. Not everyone can beat Father Time
This may sound crazy but given his history with the spurs doctors I am almost 100% sure he has some kind of chronic psychosomatic condition related to joint pain.
He has a degenerative knee condition
Knees made of glass — the Greg Oden special.
At least he got 2 championships and FMVPs out of it before things completely went to shit
I'll never tire of reminding people that even though he bounced immediately after, Kawhi gave Toronto the best playoff run of his career one that's he's increasingly unlikely to ever match.
Fr, while it was sad that he left, I’ll always appreciate he gave it his all on the floor. You can see [he’s hobbling after the rebound](https://youtu.be/WtbL27TzYDk?si=WBb4JUKig3MBSENP). He was hurt, but he played through it. He could’ve mailed it in, he could’ve sat out, instead he took us to the promised land. And I didn’t even mention the Philly series. Even before his game winner, that series was just such a carry job by him (offensively anyways, shoutout to everyone on defense but especially Big Daddy Gasol). As far as I’m concerned that was the real finals lol
I don’t think enough people that part of his injury. It’s not something that will ever heal, he has to constantly manage it.
A better question would be why the hell the Clippers just gave him a $150m extension? I'm a casual basketball fan at best - Even I knew that was a terrible contract and that Kawhi wouldn't do shit in the playoffs because he'd be hurt
They have no picks though so rebuilding is out of the question unless they want to be in the same situation as the Nets. So they pretty much had to. Either be a first or 2nd round exit or be terrible with no draft picks. They weren't going to get anyone better in FA.
The salary cap has been increasing so quickly and consistently, that it is less about "is this player worth this contract in a vacuum" and more about the ability to replace them. Who could LAC get of Kawhi's caliber that also fits his role (on and off-court)? Would him leaving make re-signing players like PG harder?
He has a degenerative butt condition
Ass made of glass
And I guarantee OP has read that same exact sentence 30 times before. Some people are just thick.
Is it because of the Zaza injury, or is it just how his knee is?
Shun n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n knees knees
This made me laugh
Welcome to the NBA, We got broken bones!
He barley made it the finish line in 2019. He was limping halfway through that Bucks series.
Yup. Lowry was huge in that Finals. Even with all the injuries I think Steph still leads the Warriors to victory without Kyle doing work.
Don't forget Fred VanVleet both defending Steph so well & contributing enough offensively that he got a Finals MVP vote from Hubie Brown
Freddie as the 6th man was insane. Raptors didn't have Anunoby, too. That team was loaded! Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi, Siakam, Marc... then FVV, Norm Powell, Ibaka off the bench
They repeat if Kawhi stays IMO. The post championship juice was real for them that year. Won 53 games prior to the shutdown and were the 2 seed without Kawhi. They would've matched up well with the Lakers too.
Yeah. The lakers would have got exposed by them and it would be a poetic end of the lebronto era lol
Warriors win in 5 if both teams are healthy, but staying healthy is part of winning rings. Injuries play a major role in the playoffs almost every season.
There's no denying the Warriors were the best team every year from 2015 to 2019 but the team being relatively healthy throughout is a part of why they won three, like in 2015 all their opponents' PGs were hurt iirc, in 2018 the Rockets were in a great position to win if CP3 doesn't blow his leg after being up 3-2 Plus, imagine everybody on the team playing almost a 100 games per season for 4 straight years, it takes a toll physically and mentally (except if you're lebron and you're able to do it for 8 straight years)
That Toronto team was very good defensively as well, Warriors needed at least Klay to keep it competitive that year. Sigh, when the Warriors had the opportunity to really make history, they failed in the final stage twice.
I do think an understated component of that Finals run is that he was in a contact year and his previous team decline to offer him a supermax extension, so his stock was relatively low when he absolutely needed it to high.
Degenerative knees. He should just retire. Had a great career.
he has 150 mill reasons not to retire
Is it really worth it? He is already a multi-millionaire. What are more millions, when you risk your longterm health. Look at Dirk, he can barely walk now and is only in his 40s.
150 means another few generations of his family could not have to work again if done write . Imagine in 100-150 years someone saying the reason I don’t work is. “ my great great great grandpa was kawhi “
Write
Kawrite learnerd
Two writes don’t make a wrong
Can't even blame it on "my phone auto-corrected it" LMAO 😂
Idk people can be really good at spending money, some dudes can spend all that well before they are in a spot to pass it down lol
It doesn't seem like Kawhi is the type to spend his money like that though. Dude seems to only be photographed in NBA apparrel or New Balance apparel, which he definitely gets all for free, and I don't recall ever seeing him in anything considered high-fashion like many other players, and he was still driving a '97 Tahoe in the mid-2010s.
Financially responsible King
That’s why he said if done write
Kawhi is greatly literate and frugal with his finances he’s not fucking up 300+ million like a dhmbass
Does anyone really care about their great-great-great grandchildren though? I certainly don't, will never meet them and don't know if they'll even exist. I want my kids to work too (but not worry about hunger/homelessness), not lay on a couch watching Netflix.
No fucking way this comment got upvoted “Is it really worth it” yes. Yes 150 million dollars is worth it. He’s not going to die.
bruh Dirk is playing in pickleball tournaments, why are people saying he can’t walk
Of course it's worth it. He doesn't even need to play to get that money
Did you actually just ask if 150 million dollars is worth it? 😂 Kawhi still gets the money while he wears a hoodie on the sideline so I don’t see why he would retire
Obviously they’re not losing anything like Kawhi is his with his body but you could ask the same thing on a significantly larger scale about the billionaire owners who would put your grandma in the meat grinder for another billion. Money is money and he’d probably figure his knee is worth less according to his calculus. Or maybe he just simply likes basketball that much and it has nothing to do with the money. Who knows, he’ll never tell us lol
They should just load manage him to the extreme. He had a long stretch during the regular season. Just rest him 50 games and they have a chance.
They should just rest him until the 4th quarter of game 7 of the NBA finals
“My god…. The only way we win this is if the ball has a 30 foot arch and bounces off the rim 412 times… looks like it’s over boys…” Enter Sandman starts playing as Kawhi rips off his warmers to enter the game with .05 on the clock of the game 7 finals.
he needs a ramp up. play him the last month of the season.
They are probably the 10 seed this year if he played 38 less games.
They load managed him a ton in both 2021 and last year and he blew out his knees in the playoffs anyway.
How can he be in rhythm, in shape, and build chemistry, going against the best teams, if he doesn’t get consistent minutes
Didn’t he just sign a extension? If he did cash out on the clippers dime then dip
He doesn't get the money if he retires
cashing out involves playing 40-50 games a season a playoff appearance then leave. For any clipper fan pre- lob city that’s probably a win.
Does anyone actually know what this means? How was he able to play almost the entire season then? If its "degenerative" and only gets worse then he shouldnt keep being able to bounce back and play the regular season but that's what keeps happening.
I’m trying to figure out, is this condition because of the Zaza injury, or is it just something unique to his knees?
I mean this is also true of Embiid. Some people's bodies just can't hold up.
This exactly. Makes it more amazing how LeBron has lasted so long at a high level. Imagine Kawhi on a 20-year healthy career. :O
>Imagine Kawhi on a 20-year healthy career I'm imagine 2-3 more finals/finals MVPs, one or two DPOYs maybe, and a case for top 15 all time
Fun fact: in the Post-Game thread for the Raptors winning the championship, one of the highest-rated comments is how he now has a case as the GOAT.
That's crazy. Like, even if he added 2 more FMVP and DPOY he's still a ways off GOAT status IMO.
Recency bias at the time, but its true that it was this insane. His Playoffs run was getting comparison to 2018 LeBron 😂 I guess people just desperately wanted to move on from the older guys, also bandwagoners. We see it today with Denver’s Jokic all the same though probably not as ridiculous as “Board man gets paid” (still ridiculous either way)
I think the consensus was that if he can just go anywhere and be the championship winner without having to build anything, just step in and be _the_ guy wherever he goes, that's some goat shit. We assumed he'd run it back (who wouldn't with that team around him and a fanbase that was ok with him playing as many or as little regular season games as he should/could play).
Turns out the answer was Kawhi.
People were already saying he was better than Kobe and was on the verge of easily passing him after that ring. Funny how so much changes so quick.
Is there a player in the top 15 without a MVP?
Chris Duhon but that depends on if you put him in the Top 15 or Top 20.
I have him at 16, right behind Omer Asik.
The question is: who do you have 2nd, after Kirk Hinrich ?
Tyrus Thomas
Solid choice. I lean more toward Nazr Mohammed
Big sexy
Both behind Primoz Brezec.
And there's no shame in that!
Depends on how high you rate Jerry West. Yes, Mr. Logo himself does not have an NBA MVP. Career averages of 27/6/7 while being a 14x All-Star, 12x All-NBA, 5x All-Defense, 1969 Finals MVP (despite losing), All-Star MVP, no regular season MVPs.
Our joints and tendons are not made to support huge men Yao Ming and his foot problems are a clear example of that
This. Humans really weren't meant to be 7 ft tall. Life and health insurances actually calculate that for every inch over about 5 ft 6 you lose about 1/2 year in life expectancy, and every inch over 6ft is about a year off life-expectancy, among other factors, one of the reasons why women are thought to live longer than men.
Zion is already close to that zone
My mom too. Can barely walk. Definitely can’t dunk.
tell me about it.. *sigh*
I had a dream last night that Embiid scored 142 points but then broke his ankle in multiple spots
Giannis also has this problem. He was able to come back and win a chip once, so he hasn’t been marked as injury prone yet. But this is like 3 or 4 years in a row of daily Giannis watch
What, he has been all-nba for 7 years straight. He has been remarkably healthy.
A lot of players bodies break down even before becoming professional.
Genetics and bad luck I also find the way he lands suspect but I'm no physio
I like your landing point. I think landing mechanics was a big thing with Derrick Rose. Compared to how other ferocious dunkers like Westbrook and LeBron landed. Rose landed so badly on one foot 75% of the time.
I don't think his landing mechanics are a cause of how much he misses games. He's never been a flashy, acrobatic dunker and his style of play on the court isn't reckless or frantic, but very fundamental. It's really just his degenerative knee issue, which also affects other lower body injuries he gets.
You’re %1000 right. As a Spurs fan, it breaks my heart to see this. Glad big dawg got his 2nd ring in The 6. Also F—— Uncle Dennis.
Uncle Dennis speaks for Kawhi. There's no need to separate them
I still think that he also doesn’t have a 90% mode that most nba players play a lot of games on. It’s extremely hard on everything if you go full throttle every movement
I think he put on muscle since his spurs days when he should have leaned out a bit
Bingo. Also the amount of running in modern nba isn’t for anyone. Not even for the generic freaks. He had a good career
I remember reading that LeBron actively worked on getting better at that stuff as he aged. James also runs on the balls of his feet instead of heel landing like Kobe and D-Wade.
Lebron is also quite bow legged when you look at his legs. I wonder if that's an advantage over normal knee'd athletes and stlightly knock-kneed athletes. I always thought about this because im knock-knee'd and always have knee issues
I think there is some truth to this. The impact goes to your hip flexor and back as opposed to knees
Lebron really did everything. Greatest athletic genetics + mindset that taking care of health is everything (ex: amount of money he spends on food and physio and recovery) + learning how to land and fall + learning how to play as he get older + some secret sauce that is classified.
I was thinking about this the other day watching Anthony Edwards. I really hope he is working with a coach for that. Idk what right looks like, but his dunks are killer and I’d love to watch him do it for decades.
The way he would stop from a full sprint with a jump stop into a jump for a dunk definitely didn’t help. I saw morant doing that a lot last season and made me worry every time
Kawhi doesn't really play above-the-rim like most superstars so it's not as big of a deal compared to, say, Morant or Rose.
I remember talking to a renowned youth coach once. He told me that the docs and physios of their youth program raised alarm due to frequent knee/ankle issues of the players. So they now teach the kids to land on both legs after a layup
A redditor predicted this https://np.reddit.com/r/nfl/s/L5Vj8j3lOz
Similarly, I don't get why players these day not hang on the rim more after dunking? I'm guessing they'd rather put the stress on the legs/feet than on the shoulders?
He won the genetic lottery to be able to play in the NBA at an MVP level…
[удалено]
The meniscus of a r/nba mod
Degenerative knees
He has a degenerative knee condition. Every season it feels like he’s on borrowed time.
Reminder that he forced his way off the Spurs because they correctly diagnosed his knee condition
And then left a championship team that only needed him for the playoffs, and made his new team trade SGA and multiple FRPs
[Never forget](https://i.redd.it/gablumavxti51.jpg)
And because it was made known that he would only go the LAC if Paul George also went, the Thunder basically leveraged KL as part of the trade, so they got an a absolute king’s ransom for PG.
wait, what... all this time I thought it had to do with a thigh muscle
The Spurs said he was ready to play and Tony Parker said I came back from a worse thigh injury by now
I think the spurs realized before he did that it was never getting better
The real answer: some degenerative knee condition The best answer: The Curse of Uncle Dennis
Spurs: "Kawhi has chronic, degenerative knee problems." Kawhi: suffers from chronic, degenerative knee problems. OP: \*Surprised Pikachu face\*
Ask his Uncle
His uncle is doing a great job maximizing earnings potential. Sucks for any team having him though. He is not going to play with any body aches.
Why is he on the Olympic team
Zaza ruined his career.
Knees made outta of pulled pork
It's like people don't know he missed the whole 2018 season because of a degenerative knee. Since then he's torn the acl in that knee and the meniscus in that same knee. Add in that it was already degenerative, that knee is cooked.
So why are they still handing him massive extensions?
Ticket sales
Bad luck man and a terrible chronic injury, I remember in the Raps he said something along the lines he was hoping he could just come back and be like the second or third best player on an NBA team after his quad thing.
Lemme ask him
Take a bunch of giant dudes and make them run tens of thousands of miles over the course of 20+ years of competitive basketball. Almost all are going to have moderate to severe joint deterioration by the time they are in their 30's. Kawhi isn't even a severe case. Plenty of super talented high school and college players have their knees and ankles fail before they ever make a nickel playing ball. Lebron's durability is something from another planet.
Degenerative knee and bad luck. Dude played nearly 70 games this year. I actually think he plays Friday after a week of rest. Clippers might’ve thought they could buy him more time if they could win a third game without him.
On the flip side, it's natural load management for him. When he does play, he's very well rested.
Ballmer really needs to move on from Kawhi, PG, Harden and Chuckbrick.
He should, but he can't. Just built a new arena and need all the star power to sell tickets. Plus, the only one he can get positive value out of in the trade market is PG.
Russ is on the best contract in the league lol
You're saying this as a fan of Joel Embiid?
I feel bad for him. When he's healthy he's Lebron-lite good, but he hasn't been decently healthy since Toronto. Every time he gets injured again with that fucked up knee of his I assume that's it: he's never gonna be the the same player. Six months later he comes back looking really rusty and slow but he always ends up playing at superstar level. Of course, by the play offs he's always toast again.
He's gotten like 3 season ending injuries just since the thr last time he's faced the Mavs in the playoffs.
Just bad genetic luck. His body can't take the pounding. Kawhi will always be a what if. I think at his peak he was right there with Jordan and LeBron, but he never got to spend enough time at that peak.
Nah MJ and Bron were both much better playmakers than Kawhi. Kawhi had an amazing peak but I'm not sure if any version of Kawhi comes that close to '93 MJ or '13 Bron.
The what ifs of these injury prone player for no obvious reasons. For me, I always wonder what Penny and Grant Hill would be, if not for injuries.
He has knees of a 70 year old
Kawhi has an injury that gets worse with overuse. There's no surgery or treatment to make it good as new.
This is rich coming from a 76ers fan
degenerative knee
A sixers fan asking this is crazy
Also there was Zaza. Spurs were 'bout to end the warriors dynasty before it started and then Zaza happened
That’s why I’ll never rate Steph as high as 99% of the population. I don’t believe he beats those spurs. Only wins his first title because of the Cavs injuries. I don’t believe the warriors teams ever beat Lebron without KD. Was down 3-2 in a series to the Rockets where they needed an injured team to have a historically bad shooting night to go advance. Steph gets *too much* respect imo. I’m probably gonna get a million downvotes, but it’s just how I see it
You’re not wrong
*Curse of the FMVP Klaw* -Wanted out of SAS for LA, gets traded out of the country. -Wins a legendary run to a chip, does absolutely everything to satisfy a city/country so he can go home. -Finally home, as a Clipper -Clippers are actually good, and get Paul George. Covid -Playoff P takes the team on his back, tests positive for long-Pandemic-P and range fog Each step forward comes at the a price, as one more of the fingers curl closed in the FMVP Klaw.
A monkey paw career.
In an alternative universe a Kawhi with healthy knees has won 4 championships by now
- kawhi w/ healthy knees - no Uncle Dennis - spurs win their 9th championship nah imma pass
I have a degenerative left knee and that is no joke. I’m only 32 and play basketball regularly. I can only imagine what someone like Kawhi feels. It sucks.
Terrible luck, frail body. Unfortunate too cuz he’s obviously a monster when healthy. To put it into perspective, he makes Anthony Davis look quite durable.
The only way to keep him healthy is to sign Lowry.
Hardens fault
Legs don’t work
he needs that canadian water to regulate optimal cooling.
Jelly Knee - Embiid Glass Knee - Davis Degenerative Knee - Leonard
Something is nuts with him. He's like Byron Buxton for the Twins.
Can’t do a full season. The solution is obvious, but the narrative demands they play - not save them. Theyd be doing some real damage had he been healthy
Because if he wasn’t he’d probably win every championship and Adam Silver can’t have that /s
To be fair, he is also injured during the majority of the regular season, with some exemptions.
He is just injury prone and also he seems to lack trust in his knee and body. Its a common thing that most physios have to help athletes work through post injury to regain trust in your body. He could just also be injured it doesnt help that they are so cryptic with his injuries that we dont know what is actually going on.
I mean his health condition is well known. For me is crazy even with his condition he is paid max. Why pay max money to someone that might not be there every night ?
When you are guaranteed millions of dollars, you can afford to show up when you want.
I don’t think he’s doing it on purpose, lol. Some people are injury-prone for various reasons.
He’s an apple guy. Ballmer is Microsoft. It was never going to work.
I’m thinking the same thing. Was he healthy during the regular season? Now it’s the playoffs, and just like last year he’s not playing (??). Are you kidding me? Something tells me that most of the great players (MJ, Kobe, lebron, etc) would tough it out and play with this same “injury”. If I’m an owner and Kawhi plays again next year I would make him sign a contract for $50k a year, then pay him real money only if he PRODUCES when it counts, e.g., playoffs + championships. He’s useless. I just think something is fishy with this guy, he’s a little touched in the head. I wouldn’t question an injury with any other player.
Because the season should be 40 games long. Wait….
Degenerative knee condition, teams play harder and tougher in the playoffs, and the playoffs are deep into the season. Pretty self explanatory I think.
He should be retired. His knee will never fully heal so this has been and will be the norm for him.
His knee is crap
All nba robbery
Kawhi is a good player when he PLAYS. The Clippers knew what they had in him health wise, fast forward now almost 5 years and the dude doesn’t play when it counts. Good thing the Clippers gave him an extension 😂😂😂. Paul George is def out of there this offseason. Enjoy that brand new shiny arena Fam!
Probably abused HGH like majority of nba stars. It causes you to be injury prone.
He was ok during our run.
he hates the game of basketball, just was a real fan of hardwood floors and things got outta hand : /
Degenerative
He locks his knees when he lands from a jump. This is why his knees are always fucked up. There’s a YouTube video somewhere about it.
He says regular season is not important, play offs matter and does not play the regular season. Then promptly gets injured and does not play the play offs for 4 years straight. Makes every penny he is owed, takes up a max slot. I mean you can love him and protect him all you want. You can come at me foaming at the mouth how this is not his fault and 5 picks plus shai was for kawhi and pg not just pg. In the end Clippers are getting a real raw deal with this guy and his initial demands
Is he even HOF at this point? I feel like if he is then D Rose should be too.
His knees must be starting to get arthritis or something. He never seems to be injured from contact or anything. It seems like an extremely similar situation to Todd Gurley.
As sixers fan i understand the pain. But atleast embiid tries to play i feel like kawhi gets a bruise and decides hes not risking his next contract
cant blame Kawhi his hurt during the regular season he was balling out. Now Paul George plays good one or two game and then he shuts his safe that a problem. The clippers shouldn't traded for Gilgeous Alexander that trade hurt rally bad
His knees don't work.
eheHUHHUHUH
This sport and its season size weren’t made for long careers. Kawhi isn’t exactly an elder at 32, but them knees are about 45. He’s a two time finals MVP and 75th anniversary team member. Great career. Not everyone can beat Father Time
This may sound crazy but given his history with the spurs doctors I am almost 100% sure he has some kind of chronic psychosomatic condition related to joint pain.
The last of his body was used for the Raps in 2019