Leonard spoke after the Clippers' loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Intuit Dome.
The Los Angeles Clippers dropped a game they really needed on Tuesday night, falling 114-104 to the Portland Trail Blazers at home. It was a costly loss in a tight play-in race, and it dropped LA to 39-37 on the season.
Portland is now within half a game of the Clippers for the eighth seed. With less than two weeks left in the regular season, every game matters, and this one stings.
But the result wasn't the only concern coming out of the locker room afterward. A reporter noticed Kawhi Leonard monitoring his wrist during the game, and when asked about it postgame, Leonard confirmed he's been dealing with something.
"Just fighting through, just fighting through really. That's all I could tell you, that's it," Leonard said. When asked when it happened, he traced it back to a specific moment. "Raptors game. I fell on it after that block challenge, or whatever."
Mar 31, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) shoots the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers in the second half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesA Wrist Issue at the Worst Possible Time
This isn't the first time the wrist has come up. Last week, after Leonard hit a game-winner against the Pacers, he admitted he'd considered giving the shot to Darius Garland because of it. He went ahead and took it anyway and knocked it down. That's very Kawhi.
Tuesday night was a different story. Leonard finished with 23 points, but he looked hesitant at times, reluctant to go up strong through contact the way he normally does. Portland's physical defenders made him uncomfortable, and it showed.
Leonard has scored at least 20 points in 52 consecutive games, the second-longest active streak in the league. He's been the engine of everything the Clippers have built since the trade deadline, averaging 28.2 points per game on the season.
What This Means Going Forward
The Clippers don't have room to rest him. They're locked into the play-in tournament, and their seeding still isn't settled. Finishing as a seven or eight seed means one win to advance. Slipping to nine or ten of course means two. The difference there matters enormously, and Leonard is the reason they're in this conversation at all.
LA has gone 4-12 without Kawhi this season. That's not a team that can afford to be cautious with its best player's minutes, which makes this wrist situation genuinely concerning.
Leonard will play through it. That much is obvious from the way he talked about it. The question is how much it limits him when the games are do-or-die in the second half of April and beyond.
Clipper Nation believes the sky is the limit if number two is at his best. Ideally, this just ends up being a short-term annoyance rather than something that truly hurts his performance.