"Was in Michael Jordan and LeBron James conversations": Fans show no mercy as Kawhi Leonard sets personal low at worst possible time
When the dust settled on Saturday night, Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers saw their season coming to an end at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. Leonard, who appeared to be having a career resurgence as of late, finished with 22 points, five rebounds, and two assists in the Clippers' 120-101 loss in Game 7.
As far as Leonard's numbers are concerned, the bigger story is his -33 in the plus/minus column. According to ESPN writer Zach Kram, this particular number is remarkable for all the wrong reasons:
"Negative-33 is Kawhi Leonard's worst plus-minus in any game in his entire NBA career," Kram tweeted after the game.
Upon realizing this, fans voiced out their criticism of Leonard's underwhelming Game 7 performance:
"Kawhi Leonard was in Michael Jordan and LeBron James conversations after game 2," one fan tweeted. "History forgot that Kawhi had 14 PTS in game 7 vs. Denver in 2020 [and] went SCORELESS in the 4th quarter. He was a -21 in that game."
"He's not good. Had a outlier shooting game in g2 the only reason this wasn't a 5 game series," another fan tweeted.
"Not just any game...a game 7," another fan pointed out.
"So-o overrated guy right now," another fan said.
Leonard ended up averaging 25.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game in this first-round series. As prolific as the former Finals MVP has been, he could not get the Clippers past the efficient Nuggets in the winner-take-all game.
Meanwhile, other netizens came to Leonard's defense:
"This plus minus stat is so overrated, he's by far the best player on his team but due to their poor performance, he's marked with a -33 +/- ," one netizen said. "May as well say Kobe Brown was on par with Jokic as they had similar plus minus."
"He outscored Jokic in this series btw. Played better than him even tonight," another netizen observed.
There's no doubt that Leonard made a difference on both ends of the floor in this series. However, the numbers indicate that his contributions in Game 7 fell short of what his team needed to make it to the next round.
Kawhi Leonard's 2024-25 season echoes first year with Clippers in a bizarre way
While many more opinions and hot takes will be given in connection to Leonard's 2024-25 season, one bizarrely poetic fact has been pointed out by StatMuse:
"Kawhi Leonard has finished out his season for the first time since 2020. He suffered the same fate—losing to Denver in 7," StatMuse tweeted after the game on Saturday.
Though it's highly unlikely that the final chapter of Leonard's NBA career has been written, future historians will look back at his time in the league and realize the role that the Nuggets have played.
