Kawhi Leonard has had so much success in the NBA, having won 2 titles, 2 Finals MVPs, and 2 Defensive Player of the Year awards. When he’s on the court, he is easily one of the best players in the league, but unfortunately for him and the Clippers, he is not able to get on the court with regularity these days.
The injury bug just refuses to leave him alone, and this season has been no different. Kawhi tore his ACL in the 2021 NBA playoffs, and despite having had more than a year to recover, he is still not quite right. A report came out that he had suffered a major setback on his return, and alarm bells were ringing for Clippers fans when head coach Tyronn Lue said there was no timetable for Kawhi’s return.
How Many Games Has Kawhi Leonard Missed In His NBA Career
The concerning part about Kawhi is that he has had injury problems for much of his career despite having a diminished workload. Right from his days with the Spurs, Kawhi has often sat out games for load management, but he still ends up getting hurt every now and then. A look at his career reveals that Leonard has missed 298 regular seasons since getting drafted in 2011.
Games Missed By Kawhi Leonard By Season
2011-12: 2 out of 66 games
2012-13: 24 out of 82 games
2013-14: 16 out of 82 games
2014-15: 18 out of 82 games
2015-16: 10 out of 82 games
2016-17: 8 out of 82 games
2017-18: 73 out of 82 games
2018-19: 22 out of 82 games
2019-20: 15 out of 72 games
2020-21: 20 out of 72 games
2021-22: 82 out of 82 games
2022-23: 8 out of 10 games
He has never played 80 games in the regular season, let alone 82, and as he gets older, there is no chance he ever plays that many in a season going forward. The closest he came to playing a full season was as a rookie when he played 64 out of 66.
After that, with the exception of the 2016-17 season, he has missed at least 10 games, and he will miss a lot more than 10 here. The Clippers’ hopes of winning that elusive title rest entirely on Kawhi, and if he can’t get back to his best this season, then this would be another wasted campaign for them.
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