Clippers news: Kawhi Leonard hints at going Hollywood with movie
01/06/2025 08:34 AM
The Los Angels Clippers welcomed Kawhi Leonard back to the lineup this past weekend in a win over the Atlanta Hawks. Leonard had missed the first 34 games of the season as he worked on strengthening his injured left knee.
In the days leading up to his return, a couple of hype videos featuring Leonard made the rounds on social media, surprising many and prompting fans to speculate about his potential return date.
Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard hints at movie amid social media clips
Kawhi Leonard made an emphatic return to the lineup on Saturday night in a win over the Hawks. The Clippers defeated Atlanta, 131-105, paced by a game-high 20 points by Norman Powell. Leonard finished with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting in just 19 minutes and 25 seconds of play.
On the day of the Clippers’ first game after Christmas Day and then again on January 4th, the day of his debut, videos surfaced on social media with Leonard as narrator.
The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding #kawhileonard#KL2pic.twitter.com/CSGl4HqY9T
— Kawhi Leonard (@Way2Whi) December 27, 2024
.#KL2#Kawhileonardpic.twitter.com/oBaFqbF7zT— Kawhi Leonard (@Way2Whi) January 4, 2025
When it was Leonard’s time to step up to the podium to address the media, the Clippers’ star was asked about the clips that dropped ahead of his return.
“Just getting creative,” Kawhi Leonard said of what inspired those. “I’ve been talking to a few producers, directors, and wanted to tell my story. And it’s a little teaser for my movie. Hopefully y’all see it down the road.”
Kawhi Leonard on the social media trailers leading up to his return:
"Just getting creative, been talking to a few producers, directors, and wanted to tell my story. And it's a little teaser for my movie. Hopefully y'all see it down the road." pic.twitter.com/dITRTuiSr5
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 5, 2025
Well then, that’s not what everyone expected to hear.
Leonard has worked on a couple of projects in the music industry, including helping to produce Culture Jam (Vol. 1) and was even in one of Drake’s music videos.
Despite the return getting everyone excited, Leonard cautioned not to put any kind of expectations or timetable on his return to form.
“We’re still easing me into the game,” Leonard explained. “We’re on nobody’s timetable. Anybody watching that. wants to see me score 20, 30 points, or be aggressive, we are not on no one’s time-frame. We know what’s ahead of us and we have to keep building in the right direction."
The former two-time NBA Finals MVP entered his first game back with a minutes restriction that wasn’t publicized, but after the game, head coach Tyronn Lue revealed that Leonard is facing a 20-minute per game restriction for the time being.
Since tearing his ACL in the 2021 postseason, Leonard missed an entire season in 2021-22, played 52 regular season games in 2022-23, and 68 games in 2023-24.
At the end of each of the last two seasons — torn meniscus in 2023 and knee inflammation in 2024 — Leonard was unable to finish the postseason healthy.
At this point, the 20-15 Clippers have been playing well enough to remain in the hunt for a playoff spot and have absolutely no reason to rush Kawhi Leonard back to his top tier form. After five years of struggling through the same issues, the only goal for this franchise is to ensure that Kawhi Leonard enters the playoffs in mid-April healthy and as close to 100 percent as possible.
In 68 appearances with the Clippers last season, Kawhi Leonard averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game on 53.5 percent shooting from the field and 41.7 percent from three
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