How many regular season games do you think Kawhi Leonard has played since the 2015-16 season where he finished second in the MVP vote? In his last seven NBA seasons he’s been available to play 564 total games. Did you guess 304 games? That is how many games Leonard has played, which is 53.9 percent of possible games. When Leonard is on the court, he is one of the best two-way players in the NBA and a first team All-NBA caliber wing that can lead a team to a championship. The challenge has always been Leonard’s availability, which apparently will not be impacted by the NBA’s new Player Participation Policy rules that go into effect this season, according to the star.
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Now, the other side of the narrative that is not talked about enough for Kawhi is that while he has only played in 53.9 percent of his teams games over the course of those seven seasons his teams have gone 210-94 overall. His teams have won 69.1 percent of the regular season games, made the playoffs all six years Leonard played with a first round exit, second round exit, two Western Conference Finals and one NBA Championship win.
There were only two times Leonard finished the season not on the injury list at the end of the playoffs. Once was the championship season with the Raptors and the other was a tough second round battle in the bubble with the Denver Nuggets.
So when Leonard is on the court he delivers. His teams from the San Antonio Spurs to the Toronto Raptors to Clippers have all been legit contenders while he’s been there.
Now with the NBA’s Player Participation Policy, it threatens to be a very costly measure for a team like Los Angeles, with Leonard adhering to the schedule and treatment that works best for his body.
With the new rules, teams are not able to rest multiple stars in the same game, stars need to be available for National television and in-season tournament games, prioritizing road games for stars. Teams will also have to refrain from long-term shutdowns during the season for star players and a few other rules for a group of 50 players (11 percent of the league) that are represented by 25 teams.
Leonard and teammate Paul George are two of the players impacted by these new rules. Los Angeles head coach Ty Lue, President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank and the training staff will have a lot to consider to balance this season with both Leonard and George while trying to contend for the franchise’s first NBA Championship.
“I’m not a guy that’s sitting down because I’m doing load management,” said Leonard at this season’s media day. “With the Raptors it was different, I was coming off an injury.
“But if the league is seeing or trying to mock what I did with the Raptors, they should stop because I was injured during that whole year. But other than that, if I’m able to play, I’ll play basketball. I workout every day in the summertime to play the game. So, no league policy is helping me to play more games.”
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