« If they had gone to the final last year, you would have seen me play! », laughing Kawhi Leonard. This is not what happened since his Clippers did not pass the stage of the “play-in” and the winger, victim of a rupture of a cruciate ligament, had to make a cross complete for the season.
Despite everything, the badly injured retains the positive of a season also marked by the prolonged absence of Paul George. ” It shows their competitive nature, their mindset, the fact that they didn’t want to give up. They could have given up and let go of the season, but without the ‘play-in’, we would have reached the playoffs “, He recalls in reference to the eighth place of his team in the standings, finally recovered by the Pelicans.
Today, the former Spurs and Raptors player feels better. ” Much beefier ” same.
He must participate in the team’s “training camp” and evaluate himself. See ” how I feel, what I don’t feel, if I move correctly. […] We’ll see how the season goes “, he adds, specifying that unconsciously, he still tries to save his leg when jumping.
“It seems to have passed so quickly”
This 2022/23 season will already be his fourth since his joint arrival with Paul George in Los Angeles. ” It seems to have passed so quickly, obviously the first year was that of the Covid. No one knew what was going to happen. […] The following year, we went to the conference semi-finals, I think, and then I ruptured my cruciate ligament. Missing the whole last season, and with the year of the Covid, time has gone faster… But I feel like over the years the team has gradually improved, so hopefully we can take a new step. That’s all I can hope for. It’s our fourth year, so hopefully we’ll have a chance to reach the Semi-Finals or the Finals and try to do something. »
The double MVP of the Finals salutes the summer recruitment of Lawrence Frank. ” We have a lot of talented wingers on the team who can play both sides of the court, dribble, shoot, defend multiple positions, and I think that’s what we need right now in the NBA. »
One of them is Norman Powell, with whom he played during his season with the Raptors, which ended with the title. ” He has improved his scoring and passing game since that I played with him. (Robert) Covington is another guy who can defend multiple positions and stretch the game. John (Wall), played well against us when he was in Houston. That’s probably the last time I saw him in person in a live match, aside from practices here. But he looked fine. Let’s put it all out there and see what we can do. »