No more Load Management jokes. Kawhi Leonard is playing back-to-backs

Kawhi Leonard is consistently playing back-to-backs this season.

Farbod Esnaashari | Mar 16, 2021

No more Load Management jokes. Kawhi Leonard is playing back-to-backs /

People like to attribute "load management" towards Kawhi Leonard, despite him not being the one to create it. Regardless, those jokes should be over - Kawhi Leonard is playing back-to-backs.

After playing 29 minutes against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, Leonard played 40 minutes against the Dallas Mavericks on a Monday back-to-back.

"Mentally, I wanted to win the game," Leonard said. "My heart was in the game. That's what you got to push through."

There were no signs of fatigue for Leonard who was the leading scorer in both games. He absolutely carried the Clippers against the Dallas Mavericks, on both ends of the floor. Leonard wanted to will his team to win, and that's exactly what he did against a Mavericks team that had won 11 out of the last 14 games.

"He was not going to let us lose this game tonight," Ty Lue said.

The Clippers are 7-0 on the second night of a back-to-back this season, which is an incredibly difficult accomplishment during this shortened season. Unless there was legitimate injury, Kawhi Leonard has played in every single of those back-to-backs. The time for "load management" jokes are over. We've seen players like Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis miss back-to-backs for numerous seasons without anyone saying a word. At this point, Leonard simply deserves more respect.

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