Following his controversial opinion regarding Kawhi Leonard’s future, Kendrick Perkins breaks his silence. The 2008 Celtics champion received pushback for his comments suggesting the Clippers star consider retirement. Of those to give criticism, Warriors star Draymond Green, called out Perkins for the insensitive words. However, Perkins revealed that his opinion didn’t come with malicious intent but from a place of concern for the well-being of Leonard.
Fresh off the heels of Perkins’ comments regarding Leonard, Green took to ‘The Draymond Green Show’ to respond. Green along with two-time All-Star Baron Davis ridiculed Perkins saying, “Because Perk, in his last three years in the NBA, nobody was pushing him into retirement, and everybody probably should have.”
The ESPN analyst took to the ‘All The Smoke’ podcast alongside Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes to respond to the comments from Draymond. He cleared the air once and for all. He said,
“Here’s the thing. If you watched the entire segment of me talking about Kawhi, it didn’t come from a place of me being malicious. It came from a place of me being concerned.”
To Perkins’ point, Leonard has struggled to stay on the court since joining the Clippers in 2019. Out of a potential 410 games in five seasons, Leonard’s only played in 229 games. He’s only been available in 56% of the games. Additionally, he’s out indefinitely to start the 2024-25 season with a knee injury.
Leonard missed four of the six games of the Clippers’ first-round series against the Mavericks this past postseason. In the offseason, Leonard attempted to represent Team USA in the Paris Olympics but elected to sit out to rehabilitate his knee. However, he’s still sidelined, which created extreme room for concern for Perkins.
Perkins didn’t utter any ill-advised words toward Green. Instead, he stated that Green didn’t know better and Baron Davis fueled his reaction further.
The reality behind Kawhi Leonard’s injury
The details of Kawhi’s injury extend to inflammation in his right knee. However, rumors are circulating that the knee injury is bone-on-bone. Perkins addressed this potential possibility as a greater reason for his worry about the health of the star forward.
Perkins has seen first-hand multiple people in the NBA forced to retire due to severe injuries such as Kawhi’s. “How many guys, former teammates or players we know that had to retire because of bone on bone?”
Recently Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball suffered bone-on-bone rubbing due to there being no meniscus or cartilage left in his knee throughout his recovery process. His left knee is entirely surgically repaired and it sidelined him for two full seasons.
Leonard is 33 years old and if his timeline of recovery is similar to Lonzo’s it raises concerns whether it’s worth it to return. It is still possible that Kawhi can return at an All-Star level but injuries have robbed the basketball world of one of the league’s best players at the peak of his powers.