WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:07.480 Welcome into a Clippers Talk Live. I'm Adam Osland. We 2 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:11.199 are on a Wednesday now. Been in a bit of 3 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:14.119 a whirlwind recently with this team in some of the 4 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.879 news coming out. Also got to work for Fred Rogan 5 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:19.440 later today, so that's been on my mind, just trying 6 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:22.679 to get through it. Appreciate you guys for checking out 7 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:26.440 the Clippers Talk YouTube. Hopefully you saw the Ralph Lawler interview. 8 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.039 It's just part one. But if you need a little 9 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:31.160 bit of a distraction and you want to reflect a 10 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:34.479 little bit on past eras of Clippers basketball, that is 11 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:37.560 something you can do and just be with the goat 12 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:41.200 Ralph Lahler. It's a great time. It's about forty seven minutes. 13 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:45.280 I highly encourage you to check out that video. Join 14 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:46.159 the show today. 15 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:46.520 Though. 16 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:50.119 Is our friend from the Athletic. It's La Murray at 17 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:53.679 Lo Murray The U is where you find him on x. 18 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:56.560 He just wrote the article for The Athletic called Clippers 19 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:01.600 on Kawhi Leonard Watch again, team navigates star bulky knee 20 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:04.760 before the season. Law how are we doing? 21 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:08.959 I feel good? I got my sleep, I got my pancakes. 22 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:11.599 Uh yeah, we good? 23 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:15.959 Hey, best way to start the day, even though I mean, 24 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.079 is that still a thing? I don't even I rarely 25 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:20.239 eat breakfast nowadays. I gotta be honest with you. I'll 26 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:22.560 hit up a protein bar from Greek yogurt. That's about it. 27 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:23.159 But I miss it. 28 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:25.840 Yeah, I can't. I can't do that. 29 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:28.120 I mean, I'm not even a morning person and I'm 30 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:31.079 gonna make sure that I break a fast dude. 31 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:32.519 So okay, okay. 32 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:36.000 So I want to get right into the meat of 33 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:37.840 some of the issues because I know the fans have 34 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:39.359 a lot of questions. I want to get to them. 35 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:41.079 And if you guys have some, put them in the 36 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:43.760 chat here. We'll ask lab Murray. There was a press 37 00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:47.680 conference yesterday with not just coach lou but Lawrence Frank 38 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:52.120 giving an update on Kawhi Leonard kp J starting jobs. 39 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:53.799 We'll talk about all of it. I want to start 40 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:56.640 with Kawhi Leonard though here as that was about fifteen 41 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:59.439 minutes of the conversation and you ask some great questions 42 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:02.799 with Lawrence Frank and then afterwards had the scoop on 43 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:05.439 the procedure being done that I don't think a lot 44 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:08.039 of people are surprised about. But you and Shamserania of 45 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.199 The Athletic wrote that news that that a procedure was 46 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:14.319 done on Kawhi back in May. So I think the 47 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:17.280 main point of confusion right now, law from the fan 48 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:19.759 base from what I've seen, and I'm looking for a 49 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:22.719 little bit of clarification on is so the procedure happens 50 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:27.800 in May, he reports to Team USA late June early July, 51 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:31.560 and the Clippers were obviously behind him playing in Team 52 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:35.479 USA during the Olympics, and then he is sent home. 53 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:42.120 Right now we find out that, well he's not back 54 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:45.719 to one hundred percent yet from the procedure. I guess 55 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:49.000 the swelling isn't all the way down. It's almost gone 56 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:52.639 quote unquote from Lawrence Frank He said that yesterday it's 57 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:55.680 significantly down, but not all the way down. So there's 58 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:59.280 a little bit of confusion where you know, there was 59 00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:01.360 a time where sounded like he was going to play 60 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:04.960 for Team USA, but now he's not available to participate 61 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:09.840 in everything during training camp, including drills. He'll be doing 62 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:13.960 strengthening for that right knee. Is there anything you can 63 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:16.080 sort through there and just point us in the right 64 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:18.879 direction of exactly what's going on the best of your 65 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:19.759 knowledge with Kawhi. 66 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.759 Well, it sounds like there has not been a setback, 67 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:28.639 and that's the important thing for me. Like we saw 68 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:33.000 obviously how July went down about Kawhi being there wanting 69 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:37.639 to play, mentioning himself when he was in Las Vegas 70 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:42.319 that he's his knee is at a point where it's 71 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.240 allowing him to play basketball and that he quote wanted 72 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:49.159 to help it stay that way, right, And so I 73 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:52.319 thought we heard a lot of that echo yesterday. We 74 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:56.240 know what Lawrence Frank was saying when Kawhi withdrew from 75 00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:00.479 the team, or more accurately, the team USA made the 76 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:03.840 decision to withdraw Kawhi and have Derek White be on 77 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:08.199 the roster, and it's that they were more comfortable with 78 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:11.360 the player that they were going to go to the 79 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:15.680 Olympics with that was Derek. But also it wasn't something 80 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:19.120 that Kawhi wanted to do. Like Kawhi was preparing to 81 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:23.079 play basketball this summer, and the Clippers were prepared to 82 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:26.279 have Kawhi play basketball this summer. Toronto lose there as 83 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:29.040 a coach, Lawrence Frank said he was there at the 84 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:34.920 first two practices. He reiterated again yesterday that he wished 85 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:39.160 that Kawhi got a longer runway to play. 86 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:40.399 In the Olympics. 87 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:43.839 Like, we're talking about a guy who got a chance 88 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:46.720 to win a gold medal taken from him, basically, but 89 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:49.639 you can understand why USA was like, we need to 90 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:55.199 get someone here who is not as risky, if you will, 91 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:58.879 of a potential reoccurrence of this thing. 92 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:00.480 And that's that's. 93 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:02.839 Kind of the confusion for me. He was good to 94 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:05.839 play for Team USA, but he's not fully ready to 95 00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:09.360 participate in training camp four months later after surgery. 96 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:14.040 So here's the difference between Team USA and July and 97 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:17.879 what we're about to get into here. How many games 98 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:21.120 you play in USA to try and win a gold medal? 99 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:23.720 Oh? 100 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:25.120 How many games do you have to play? 101 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:28.000 How many games we talking about? How many games. 102 00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:32.000 Between the exhibition and the knockout round? I don't even know? 103 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:33.680 Is it ten games? Seven games? 104 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:36.079 Basically? Right? How many games? 105 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:41.480 The NBA season eighty two? Still eighty two games? And 106 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:46.959 so I think it comes down to this. It sounds 107 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:51.279 like Hawhi, if we want to take Lawrence at his word, 108 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:55.160 is ready to play. He wants to participate in training camp. 109 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:58.560 Feels like if he needed to play a basketball game, 110 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:01.519 he could do it, and now we need to talk 111 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:05.639 about management, a management plan and that knee. 112 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:06.800 It sounds like has. 113 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:10.600 Actually made some progress from the time he had surgery 114 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:15.480 to the July the Olympics, and from July to now 115 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:17.120 he is. 116 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:17.959 Not one hundred percent. 117 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:19.639 I don't know what the hell one hundred percent is 118 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:22.879 supposed to be for Kawhi Leonard. Like I don't I 119 00:06:22.920 --> 00:06:25.560 personally don't think such a thing exists. 120 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:26.519 You know what I mean? 121 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.800 Like normal NBA players say that nobody's one hundred percent 122 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:33.600 by time the playoffs hit, So like, what does that 123 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:38.839 mean for Kawhi Leonard? So that multi part phase that 124 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:41.680 the team is talking about that Kawhi has to hit 125 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:45.920 certain bars to get to all right, Like, I'm gonna 126 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.680 let them have that one. I'm not going to really 127 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:51.480 get into what is supposed to be one hundred percent 128 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.480 for Kawhi, But I just feel like this is their 129 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:58.680 management plan. Like he probably could go through training camp 130 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:02.000 buses ass like he did last year in training camp, right, 131 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:04.399 because that whole team was on another level for Camp 132 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:09.040 Russ and you know, be ready to open the buildings 133 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:11.680 start the season. And to be honest with you, we 134 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:13.800 saw that shit from two years ago, like when they 135 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:16.360 went to Las Vegas for training camp, and that training 136 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:23.040 camp was to be polite about it, not serious, like, 137 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.800 but they went to Vegas or camp, Kawhi was coming 138 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:29.079 back from his injury. Paul had a pretty bad year 139 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:31.439 as far as availability. He was going to be healthy. 140 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:34.160 They had the team that went forty two and forty 141 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.879 with those guys missing either most or all of the season. 142 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:43.480 And you know, Kawhi played what the first two games, right, 143 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.879 first two out of three games, and then he goes 144 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:51.000 to Oklahoma City, his knee flares up and you don't 145 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:53.240 have him for three and a half weeks. That's what 146 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:55.959 happened two years ago. I feel like the Cliffers are 147 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:59.040 trying to avoid that shit this year. Get him to 148 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:04.319 a place where, oh shit, he's progressed, He's gotten the 149 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:07.639 swelling down, and maybe they see a path where in 150 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.759 a short term that swelling could be a thing where 151 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:16.040 it's not there anymore. And then when he does debut, 152 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:20.000 whether it's in the preseason, whether it's four weeks from 153 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:22.920 today in the regular season, when the Sun's visit for 154 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:27.120 the opener, we are all hoping that six weeks from today, 155 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:30.759 when Paul George and the seventy six ers come, Kauhi 156 00:08:30.839 --> 00:08:35.320 will be right. But I think their priority is get 157 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:38.799 him to debut so that when he does debut, this 158 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.720 doesn't recur again. If you want to believe that there's 159 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:45.360 no such thing that Kawhi is always going to have 160 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:48.960 this issue, That's kind of what I wrote today, like 161 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:52.799 who am I to whom am I to say that 162 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:57.159 that's not going to be, you know, a factor. But 163 00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:59.120 I think that's where the Clippers are at right now. 164 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:03.799 They just feel like he could do camp. How about 165 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:06.960 they manage him so that he can just be ready 166 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:09.320 to debut and stay on the floor when he's ready 167 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:10.039 to be on the floor. 168 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:13.440 Here listening to Clippers talk, I'm Ada MAZLM. We got 169 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:17.000 La Murray on Law and Adam Ay in the morning 170 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:22.720 going on right now. Rama Street says they're just being cautious. Adam, 171 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:25.799 you should relax, guys, we're talking about Kawhi Leonard. I 172 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:29.440 have questions to ask. I'm trying to do my part 173 00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:31.440 here because I know a lot of Clipper Nation was 174 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:33.879 frustrated with some of the comments coming out yesterday, just 175 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:36.519 the lack of clarity and understanding exactly what's going on. 176 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:38.639 But I think Laws put it into good perspective here 177 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:41.080 with you know there's ten games or so you'd have 178 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.440 to play with Team USA. We're talking about getting ready 179 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:47.039 for a season where there's eighty two games and then playoffs. 180 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:48.879 And even though we know it's likely he's not going 181 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:51.320 to be playing back to backs, that's still sixty six 182 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:53.279 games and then hopefully you have them for the playoffs. 183 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:58.559 So it's just a completely different I guess work tool 184 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:01.240 that would be expected on Kawhi Leonard. And so I 185 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:04.720 think that's an interesting and good clarification law on that 186 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:08.159 it sounds like. And this is something I kind of 187 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:11.360 worried about back in April. It's just tricky to bandage 188 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:15.840 inflammation code. It was Lawrence Frank who said yesterday it's tricky, 189 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:19.039 and they're trying to figure out ways to do it. 190 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:22.200 But they're also kind of learning as this goes along, 191 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:25.200 and they have all the doctors you could ever want 192 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:28.360 to be at Kawai's side for this and figure out 193 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:31.159 the best ways. But maybe they are just being so 194 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:34.159 overly cautious as you kind of alluded to there with 195 00:10:34.840 --> 00:10:38.200 maybe Kauai could be doing more in training camp but 196 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:41.240 why push things at all when right now the knee 197 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.879 is in a good place where the swelling is almost gone, 198 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:47.320 and it's not like a guy who's thirty three and 199 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:50.159 has been in the league for sometimes really needs a 200 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.720 ton of reps out there. So why do not you 201 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:55.480 strengthen the knee? Does that make sense? 202 00:10:56.279 --> 00:10:57.440 I mean that's part of it. 203 00:10:57.559 --> 00:11:03.440 Like, again, the team and you know Kawhi, they're kindred 204 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:07.720 spirits in this. We already we know the history of both, 205 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:13.360 so we we obviously know that whatever they say pales 206 00:11:13.399 --> 00:11:16.440 in comparison to what they do and what actually happens. Okay, 207 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:21.080 so when Kawhi gets on the floor is when everyone 208 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:23.399 should take the hook to take them off the hook. 209 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:26.759 And then Kawhi actually playing an extended stretch of games 210 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:30.240 without something coming up, that's when you can quoe unquote relax. 211 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:34.399 But in the grand scheme of things, Yeah, like Kawi 212 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.039 knows what he's doing. I think him being around getting 213 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:41.240 mental reps, focusing on strengthening his knee, whatever the heck 214 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:45.000 that dude needs to do so that when he actually debuts, Like, 215 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:48.639 look at it from from this perspective, what you don't 216 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:51.159 want to hear is he had a setback in October, 217 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.559 and you know what, the setback can come, whether he's 218 00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:58.080 playing or not. Like again, this injury has dominated the 219 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:01.879 conversation with Kawhi for six months, the greater part of 220 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:06.759 six months. You're not going to really believe anything until 221 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:10.600 he actually gets on the damn floor. I do think 222 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:12.519 you got to look at it from the whole team's perspective. 223 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:17.639 They're not going to play eighty two games with Kawhi 224 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:21.919 Leonard this season. If they play seventy, then that would 225 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:25.960 be more than last year. Like sixty five is the 226 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:29.960 award cut off. We'll see exactly how that goes, especially 227 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:32.240 if he doesn't play in back to back shich I'm 228 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.440 not sure how they'll handle that yet. The team doesn't 229 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:37.399 want to share how they'll handle that yet. That's a 230 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:39.679 bridge that we'll have to have to cross when we 231 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:44.480 get there. I obviously know that it's tough when you're 232 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:46.519 entering a season and you're talking about a player who 233 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:49.679 has to be handled with kids gloves from a physical perspective, 234 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:52.399 But I do think and I don't want to keep 235 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:55.320 going with rose colored glasses and silver linings. I'm just 236 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:59.320 being real here. You're going to play games without Kawhi Leonard. 237 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:02.799 The team in needs to focus on are how they're 238 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:06.360 going to play without Kawhi. Maybe their training camp is 239 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:10.679 understanding that James Harden will be there and that all 240 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:12.360 those dudes are going to have to play their ass 241 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:17.080 off and play smart and play with a significantly decreased 242 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:18.639 margin of error to. 243 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:20.360 Be competitive and win games. 244 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:24.120 And they're going to be focusing on that from the 245 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:29.799 day one, starting training camp next week, and hey, Kawhi 246 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:31.720 is going to be there, He's just not going to 247 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:34.480 be in everything that the team is going to be doing. 248 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:37.919 And maybe that's how they start the season knowing that 249 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:39.919 if we got to play with Kawhi, they got to 250 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:43.960 play way better without Kawhi than they did, especially two 251 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:44.480 years ago. 252 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:48.440 Now I'm not expecting an answer on this, but I'll 253 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:50.799 do my due diligence at least and ask this question 254 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:54.039 for Stratos, who's wondering what the procedure was. Was a 255 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.440 nice scope was to clean up I do think it's 256 00:13:56.519 --> 00:13:59.279 decent deduction by him if he was thinking about playing 257 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:02.360 in the Olympics almost a month a month and a 258 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:05.759 half after whenever the procedure happened in May, it couldn't 259 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:09.600 have been anything too significant, and that is something Lawrence 260 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.600 Frank talked about that press conference regarding Team USA. If 261 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:15.679 it was something significant, they would have reported it then. 262 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.440 So do you have any clarity on what type of 263 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:20.120 procedure if it was just clean up. 264 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:25.519 Yeah, it's a cleanup, one of those things where do 265 00:14:25.559 --> 00:14:27.919 you get it done in May? And like I said, 266 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:30.519 by the end of June he was he was back 267 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:36.000 doing basketball activities to basically give Team. 268 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:38.440 USA officials some level of. 269 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:42.279 Calm, like that he could be in training camp when 270 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:46.360 the entire team got together in Vegas in July. So 271 00:14:47.159 --> 00:14:50.080 you know, we're not it's not like this was ACL 272 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:54.799 surgery or anything like that, which we know we've been 273 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:56.080 through that part already. 274 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.840 Like there are people I remember back in twenty twenty one. 275 00:14:58.840 --> 00:15:01.759 People thought, oh, it's only a partial AC out there, 276 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:04.000 like that was going to help anything Like. 277 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:07.639 The same surgery. 278 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:13.159 It's the same surgery, same timeline, you know, like you 279 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:16.399 gotta repair that ligament. So we're not talking about a 280 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:19.279 ligament that needed to be repaired. We're not talking about 281 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:23.080 even in twenty twenty three when he tore his miniscus 282 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:27.480 and you know he needed to repair that and was 283 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:31.120 ready for training camp. And that's surgery again for a 284 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:34.799 more serious injury. Probably that took later. He didn't get 285 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:41.759 that clean up until later in that off season. So again, 286 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:45.919 it's the tough part about this is it's a recurring 287 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:47.559 thing with his knee. 288 00:15:47.879 --> 00:15:49.159 His right knee. 289 00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:54.840 Qua's right knee has ruined his previous four NBA seasons. Okay, 290 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.279 it's just if a guy suffers a sprain ankle every 291 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:05.679 year Steph Curry for example, Right, I don't care how 292 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:10.799 many years Steph play. Is Like after Steph had his 293 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:14.799 third year ruined by the ankles, every year, you're you 294 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:18.080 have in the back of your mind that dude you 295 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:20.960 got to protect his ankles. Like Marcus Smart runs up 296 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:23.399 on Curry's ankles two years ago in a regular season 297 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:26.559 game and Steve Kurr lost his shit. I mean a 298 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.360 lot of that came from fear because you see your 299 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:31.120 whole season flashing before you. So that's gonna be what 300 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:35.360 it is with Kawhi's the unfortunately, like Kawhi's like, they're 301 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:38.120 trying to make it so that they do with their 302 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:41.399 part so that when he plays, he's playing then the 303 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:43.840 games that matter and that he has the best chance 304 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:47.039 of this not coming up, knowing that it might come 305 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:47.480 up again. 306 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:50.720 I think part of the reason people talk about a 307 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:56.080 lack of transparency with Kawhi the Clippers health stuff, Well, 308 00:16:56.120 --> 00:16:58.720 to me, law some of it is just what Lawrence 309 00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:01.519 Frank talked about yesterday when I don't know if you 310 00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:03.840 asked him or somebody asked him about playing in game 311 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:05.960 one of the regular season, is like that, I don't 312 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:10.039 have to see. Yeah, you asked him that, and basically 313 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:12.880 he said, we have to see how he responds to 314 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:15.680 the treatment, to the exercises, to the strength train of 315 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:18.960 the knee. How can you project something like that until 316 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:22.160 you actually see how his knee responds. So I don't know. 317 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:25.519 I don't know what people are asking for. Sometimes there 318 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:27.920 is no crystal ball for this stuff. Kawhi doesn't know 319 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:29.839 how his knee is going to respond, so how can 320 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:32.599 the Clippers know how his knees going to respond? Is 321 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:33.000 that fair? 322 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:34.160 Oh? 323 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:39.599 Yeah, yeah, it's definitely fair. It's it's tough, man, Like. 324 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:43.079 The toughest part about it is, again we're dealing with 325 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:44.640 a player who's chronically injured. 326 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:47.559 Like that's just what it is. 327 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:53.119 You know, you can't really get comfortable with this team, like, well, 328 00:17:53.240 --> 00:17:55.880 they could have told us nothing, which is close to 329 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:59.480 what we get sometimes and like you're still going to 330 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:01.119 be Like, man, I wonder if Kawhi is going to 331 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:04.359 be all right going into camp, Like you know, I 332 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.440 feel like they're basically saying, hey, look, Kawhi probably could 333 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:11.680 have played, could have done everything next week, that's not 334 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:15.839 the goal. They have different goals, Like we knew things 335 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:18.240 were going to be weird this season as soon as 336 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:21.559 they were eliminated in the playoffs. I think own ask 337 00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:26.480 T Lou the night of Game six in Dallas about, 338 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:29.200 you know, just managing Kawhi, like what are they going 339 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:31.519 to do? And T Lou jokes, I'm going back to 340 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:35.519 low management, and you know, like he's laughing. 341 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:37.519 But how can they blame them? 342 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:39.160 How could I blame them? 343 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:42.519 Exactly, Like you know, this is the low management. 344 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:46.079 Like I think that it would infuriate people on the 345 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:48.279 other side of the coin if Kawhi. 346 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:52.200 Because he's stubborn and wants to play. And I've seen 347 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:53.279 that again. 348 00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:56.359 I was in Memphis when that dude played the first 349 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:58.599 half of a front end of a back to back 350 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:02.640 and no one when the team knew he wasn't going 351 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.640 to play in the second half of the game, right, 352 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:07.599 and then they go to New Orleans the next day. 353 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:10.960 Kawhi kills it because he's strong enough to play in 354 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:11.880 the back to back. 355 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:14.440 But the Clippers got they lose anyway. 356 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:19.599 That was literally April of twenty twenty three, and so 357 00:19:19.640 --> 00:19:22.480 it's the same shit. It's like, dude, if you let 358 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:26.079 Kawhi do what he wants to do, runs rogue does 359 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:30.160 everything in camp, something gets messed up, y'all gonna be 360 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:31.680 upset about that shit too. 361 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:34.160 So you gotta protect players from themselves. 362 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:35.920 Players want to play exactly. 363 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:39.440 And like, like I said, I asked my question for 364 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:42.359 a reason because I don't care about training camp and 365 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:45.680 the preseason when it comes to Kawhi at this point, like, okay, cool, 366 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:48.640 he's not doing whatever. Y'all holding him back, y'all restrict 367 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:51.440 to them. Tell me when he's fighting, and they couldn't. 368 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:55.640 We're not they're not committing to that, which again, it's 369 00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:58.160 not putting pressure on Kawhi. It's not putting pressure on 370 00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:01.039 the organization to say, hey, we said this and this 371 00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:03.200 turned out. I look, I've been doing this for a 372 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:07.000 long time. I get the coach speak, the front office speak, 373 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:08.319 the group speak. 374 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:08.960 Whatever you want to call it. 375 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:12.640 I think what y'all all care about is when is 376 00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:16.319 that dude playing and how long and what shape and 377 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:19.640 what condition is he in to sustain himself over the 378 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:21.200 course of the regular season because you had to play 379 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:22.920 regular season games that you can get to the playoffs. 380 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:25.400 I think that's I think we can understand and agree 381 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:25.599 to that. 382 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:29.759 Adam, Yeah, you can't just wait till March to play 383 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:32.799 Kawhi because you won't make the playoffs if he doesn't 384 00:20:32.839 --> 00:20:33.559 play before that. 385 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:37.039 Yeah, So like that's my concern. 386 00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:41.519 The needle that moves everybody since we're talking about this 387 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:45.920 is when will Kawhi letter play? Answer that question for 388 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:47.680 me and then we can go forward. 389 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:50.759 That's kind of what I said yesterday on the podcast. 390 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:53.920 Somebody said, what's the Clippers ceiling in the standings this year? 391 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:55.799 And I'm like, I don't know. Tell me how many 392 00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:58.279 games you got Kawhi playing, and I'll spit out a 393 00:20:58.359 --> 00:21:00.640 number of wins for you maybe. But since we don't 394 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:03.039 know that, we can't know a lot of where this 395 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:05.440 Clippers team is going to be at when it comes 396 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:08.839 to a brutal Western Conference, which Lawrence Frank also talked 397 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:12.160 about yesterday. I know somebody here said hard and Ball 398 00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:15.240 to win fifty five games than Kawhi ball for the playoffs. 399 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:19.960 Harden is not winning fifty five games without Kawhi Leonard. 400 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.759 Even with them, guys, they won fifty one last season 401 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:26.039