As a 33-year-old with 12 years of experience in the league, Kawhi Leonard is closer to the end than the beginning of his NBA career. But if you ask basketball legend Paul Pierce (who spoke with Kevin Garnett on KG Certified), Kawhi would be better off if he just quit now while he’s still got his health.
Kevin Garnett: “All of this comes with the territory man,” said Garnett on KG Certified. “As you get older you have to maintenance yourself a lot more. Things swell more, things hurt more, you get up feeling more things. You don’t think LeBron is swelling? You don’t think Anthony Davis is? This is part of it, everybody’s hurt and everybody’s getting better. When you are 30+ or 32+, then yeah the body will swell when you put it through rigorous exercise.
Paul Pierce: “Kawhi long-term should really start contemplating retirement. Think about how many years we’ve been seeing him go through a clear house or surgeries or sitting out this many games because of knee swelling. It’s gonna get to the point where you want to be able to save your legs for after you retire. you should really think about the future because this is too much to put your body through.”
Most NBA stars don’t think about retirement until their mid to late 30s and Kawhi still has a few years before he reaches that mark. With averages of 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game on 52.5% shooting last season, we know that Kawhi can still play at a high level and that he’s still one of the best two-way players in the game.
Of course, that’s not to mention his extensive history of health problems in the past. Over the course of his career, Leonard has endured several season-ending injuries spanning from the right quad in 2017 to a torn ACL in 2021 that caused him to miss the entirety of the 2021-22 season.
Leonard also has a history of load management. Over the years, for the sake of preserving his health and durability, Kawhi has frequently skipped games (often back-to-backs) even when he’s physically able and healthy enough to play.
Leonard hasn’t actually played in 70 or more games in a season since 2017 and there’s been three times in that span that he played in just 52 or less. To be blunt, Leonard has not been available for his teams over the years and his “load management” tactics should have extended his career by years with all the games he missed.
Instead, Kawhi may be on track to retire in the near future. Leonard is 33 years old now and by the time his current deal expires in 2027, he’ll be over 36. If this isn’t Kawhi’s last season, it may very well be his last NBA contract and you can’t call his career anything other than a success given what he was able to accomplish.
Ultimately, it’s up to Kawhi to decide his NBA future but the Clippers should be prepared for anything when it comes to his availability in the future.
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