Kawhi Leonard Gives Honest Answer About Not Playing Full Minutes

Kawhi Leonard really wants to play basketball.

The Kawhi Leonard return experience hasn't exactly panned out the way the Clippers have wanted it to. It seems like every time Kawhi Leonard is about to return to form, an injury or a minutes restriction occurs.

On Wednesday night's game against the Orlando Magic, Kawhi Leonard had to sit out throughout all of the overtime but only played in the final minute - something that Leonard gave a very candid response to Andrew Greif of the LA Times.

“They’re just trying to protect, I guess, us as players," Leonard said to Greif. "You know, at times I feel like we should be in to close quarters out like the end of that third, but like I said, I guess medical staff is just trying to protect us as players, I mean, at least me, because it’s my second game back. Hopefully, we can get beyond this and we can just play basketball."

Unfortunately, Kawhi Leonard won't be playing against the Miami Heat because he still doesn't play back-to-back games just quite yet. The LA Clippers entered the season with the expectation that they'd be getting a fully healthy Kawhi Leonard and would be championship favorites, but it just hasn't worked out. Hopefully, Leonard can have a stretch of games of full availability that helps bring the Clippers some wins and they'll return to full form by midseason.

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