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Kawhi has missed more games (123) than he’s played with the Clippers 111. A lot due to his own decision.
He’s actually played less than games than glass Anthony Davis. Wait what
And more than anything the Clippers are suffering, especially when he chooses not to play.
The Clippers are 3-4 right now with their wins coming in a game winner against the Rockets, the Lakers who went 0-5, and another close call against the Kings. They lost back to back games against the Thunder, bro they got all your picks… the Suns and the Pelicans. The Clippers haven’t beaten a single contending team. **But remember, the Clippers are supposed to be the best team on paper according to NBA analysts.**
But just like when the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the too! Nuggets with Kawhi and PG healthy
The Raptors were just hoping to convince Kawhi to stay so they were gonna do anything to keep him happy, even if that meant letting him sit games, 22 games to be exact. They were just happy to have him there. And unfortunately for the Clippers, the Raptors won a championship and reinforced the idea of heavy load management as a viable way to win a championship. Kawhi never played in any back to back, and sat out random games, but he made one important statement, that the Raptors year was his first coming off injury which was the reason for precaution and that the next season, load management would be a game by game basis and that he intends to play the full season.
The Clippers got Rondo, PG and Kawhi worked to develop the point guard skills themselves, but now, there’s no Rondo, Kawhi isn’t reliable, so it’s left all on PG to handle the playmaking role, but even Paul George isn’t immune to injury. He’s missed 83 games in the last 3 seasons. And the more you rely on PG, the more you’re going to run him into exhaustion just getting into the playoffs.
Do you remember what Paul George was doing in the 2021 playoffs after Kawhi went down? He played the most minutes in the playoffs, usage rate at 57.8%… to understand just how high that is, LeBron’s usage rate in 2018 when he was carrying a trash Cavs team as 61.2% and when he carried a team of nobodies in 2007, his usage rate was 51.7%. Luka who is known to solo squad his teams had a usage rate of 57.7%. Paul George was literally doing more than LeBron in 2007, Luka last year, all to drag the Clippers team to the Western Conference Finals
I believe everyone on the team doesn’t care about Kawhi sitting out and so perhaps that doesn’t mentally affect them, but Paul George has said that Kawhi is the clear #1 on the team. Isn’t the clear #1 mean he’s a huge part of the Clippers gameplan and that all these other players have to learn to play with him? If you’re not willing to rely on Kawhi a bit more, all the pressure will fall on Paul George who himself is injury prone. The idea of having 2 stars is to go to the hot hand.
**Now let’s not forget that this squad is championship or bust.** The Clippers sent all their picks and their souls for both PG and Kawhi and their duo has barely played a full season in 3 years. This is an all-in situation, and it’s a huge gamble at that. And everyone including the Clippers teammates know it.
**So Kawhi might be waiting for everything to be perfect, but if he continues to load manage**, if he continues to sit out rather than playing or even traveling with the team, how are the Clippers going to build chemistry, build lineups, heck see multiple defenses.
It’s a dangerous game that the Clippers are playing — do you keep your best player happy and healthy, or do you put him in the games to develop team chemistry while potentially putting him in harm’s way? Lemme rephrase that, what will Kawhi decide because he holds the Clippers in the palm of his hands
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