The Clippers are one of those teams who could win it all, but the health of their stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George is the main thing their championship hopes depend on.
Since the pair joined the Clippers in 2019, Leonard has only played in around 52 percent of the franchise’s games, while PG-13 has played in 61 percent of games.
With the addition of Russell Westbrook last season, the Clippers looked sharp, until Leonard and Paul both went down with injuries at a crucial point in the season.
Kawhi with a knee injury in Game 1 of the postseason and George with a knee injury he obtained in late March.
Clippers coach and current Team USA assistant, Ty Lue has given an update on the pair’s status and whether they’ll available for training camp in a few weeks.
“We expect him to be ready by training camp,” Lue said of Leonard on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “He will be 100 percent by the time training camp hits and we just gotta be ready for when training camp hits with our medical staff, we just make sure we are doing the right things as far as practices and games and making sure the minutes are right. The same thing with PG. When those two guys play, we’re an amazing team.”
It must be very frustrating for Clippers fans to witness the same story season after season.
Neither Paul nor Leonard have played more than 57 regular season games during their time in LA.
Both players aren’t getting any younger either and will be in their mid thirties in only a few short years.
So their window to clutch a championship as Clippers stars is beginning to close.
PG-13 is yet to win a ring in his NBA career, while Leonard bagged one during his time with the Raptors.
Maybe this season could be theirs for the taking, we’ll just have to wait and see.