After battling countless injuries, Leonard reflects on the mental and physical grit required to reach his seventh All-Star Game.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has been through just about everything an NBA player can go through when it comes to injuries.
A torn ACL, a torn meniscus, chronic knee inflammation, and an entire season lost to rehab are just part of the list.
But heading into All-Star Weekend at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Leonard is playing the best basketball of his career, and he wants people to understand what it took to get here.
Leonard Sends a Message
After being named to his seventh All-Star Game, Leonard was asked what it means to reach that level again after everything his body has been through.
"For the people that don't know, you should just see the hard work that I put in. You don't get to see the behind the scenes. To keep getting to a level that I'm getting to, it's definitely mentally challenging and physically as well. A lot of people definitely can't do it."
Leonard was not originally selected as a starter or reserve for this year's game, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver added him to the U.S. player pool to bring the total to the 16-player minimum required under the new format.
With the numbers he has been putting up, many around the league felt he should have been there from the start.
A Trail of Injuries
Leonard's time with the Clippers has been defined by a constant battle with his body.
In the 2021 Western Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz, he partially tore his right ACL and missed the entire 2021-22 season recovering from surgery.
He came back for 2022-23 but only appeared in 52 games before tearing his meniscus in the first round of the playoffs against Phoenix.
The 2023-24 season was his healthiest in years at 68 games, but knee inflammation returned late in the year and followed him into the postseason.
Then, ahead of 2024-25, the inflammation kept him out for the first 34 games while the Clippers stumbled to one of the worst starts in franchise history.
Playing at an Elite Level
This season has been a completely different story.
Through 41 games, Leonard is averaging a career-high 27.9 points per game to go with 6.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and a league-leading 2.1 steals while shooting 49.1 percent from the field.
He set a new career high with 55 points against Detroit back on December 28th and has scored 20 or more in over 30 straight games.
Leonard has been the driving force behind one of the most surprising turnarounds in the league this season.
The Clippers started at a rough 6-21 and have since climbed to 26-28 heading into the break, largely on the back of his play.
Even after the team traded James Harden and Ivica Zubac at the deadline, Leonard kept things rolling by dropping 41 points against the Timberwolves and hitting a game-winning shot against Houston in the final game before the break.
At 34 years old, Leonard is doing things that very few players in NBA history have done after the kind of injuries he has faced.
He has rebuilt his game around a more aggressive scoring approach, taking a career-high number of three-point attempts while still leading the league in steals.