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Golden State Warriors Player Makes Unexpected Kawhi Leonard Comment

Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski recalled this moment vs. the LA Clippers

Joey Linn

Golden State Warriors Player Makes Unexpected Kawhi Leonard Comment
Golden State Warriors Player Makes Unexpected Kawhi Leonard Comment /
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Golden State Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski has been one of the bigger surprises in the NBA this season. While Podziemski projected to be one of the more NBA-ready prospects in the draft, Steve Kerr rarely integrates rookies into his regular rotation, but currently has Podziemski starting over Klay Thompson.

When asked during All-Star Weekend for one of his welcome to the NBA moments, Podziemski said, "November 30th we played the Clippers at home. I got a foul called on Kawhi Leonard and I didn't touched him. We reviewed it and we won the challenge. But just to see what kind of calls NBA superstars get. Besides Steph [Curry]."

For Podziemski, seeing Leonard get a foul call on a play he wasn't touched was a welcome to the NBA moment. While the Warriors of course won that challenge, confirming that Podziemski was correct about not touching Leonard, the Clippers star has one of the tougher whistles among players of his caliber.

Currently ranked 44th in the NBA in free throw attempts per game, Leonard is also 113th in free throw rate (per Basketball Reference). While there is no perfect metric to measure how favorable a player's whistle is, Leonard is certainly not one of the stars who gets many free points from the line.

All of that being said, Podziemski still has a point, and was correct about that one poor call against the Clippers earlier this season.

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Joey Linn
JOEY LINN

Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time across multiple platforms, primarily serving as a credentialed Clippers beat writer.

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