Everything 2022-2023 Season

[TrueTorontoFan]

lakers 2-8, so fricken gooooooood

They can turn it arouond /s

[G__Deane]

They can turn it arouond /s

Hopefully, they don't!

[KeonClark]

This is really bad.

Almost seems mental with this dude, and his playing career dealing with injuries. Injuries are a part of life for a pro athlete, but Kawhi seems like he's trying to find the perfect science to where he avoids them and always plays in perfect health.

He might be cooked. Raptors got the best ever season out of Kawhi Leonard.

[G__Deane]

I'm thinking he might be enjoying the convertibles and warm weather more than playing and competiton now.
Might be one of those guys where the fire went out and comfort/money trumps winning and competing.

[Yuri Gagarin]

I'm thinking he might be enjoying the convertibles and warm weather more than playing and competiton now.
Might be one of those guys where the fire went out and comfort/money trumps winning and competing.

Im surprised that doesnt happen more often. I think Bargnani got a case of that but Kawhis knees are just fried. Hes done

[Hotshot]

I'm thinking he might be enjoying the convertibles and warm weather more than playing and competiton now.
Might be one of those guys where the fire went out and comfort/money trumps winning and competing.

I've said it as well that the Raptors championship would be the pinnacle moment of his NBA career cause in L.A it's going to go all downhill from there. His motivation was to secure the contract by playing the best basketball of his career in the location he wanted. What he didn't understand was that the Raptors team was constructed in a way that it was the best situation for him basketball wise and the East at the time was easier to navigate thru than the West.

Kawhi got the money, his family and his home in L.A so success in basketball on the court is much lower priority for him. As far he is concerned, he ain't worried about nothing but his health at this point . In the summer of 2024 Kawhi has an option of opting out of the last year of his contract (worth 48 Million dollars!) so in order to even considered for another contract he has to play in the year 2023-2024 some pretty good basketball which could be motivating enough. If however he can't put the injuries behind him than he will still opt-in for the last year and walk away from the game at the ripe age of 34.

Not a bad career after all but not what it could have been.

[TrueTorontoFan]

I've said it as well that the Raptors championship would be the pinnacle moment of his NBA career cause in L.A it's going to go all downhill from there. His motivation was to secure the contract by playing the best basketball of his career in the location he wanted. What he didn't understand was that the Raptors team was constructed in a way that it was the best situation for him basketball wise and the East at the time was easier to navigate thru than the West.

Kawhi got the money, his family and his home in L.A so success in basketball on the court is much lower priority for him. As far he is concerned, he ain't worried about nothing but his health at this point . In the summer of 2024 Kawhi has an option of opting out of the last year of his contract (worth 48 Million dollars!) so in order to even considered for another contract he has to play in the year 2023-2024 some pretty good basketball which could be motivating enough. If however he can't put the injuries behind him than he will still opt-in for the last year and walk away from the game at the ripe age of 34.

Not a bad career after all but not what it could have been.

he had a chance to go back to back and should have reupped for ONE more year.

[Hotshot]

he had a chance to go back to back and should have reupped for ONE more year.

and the ironic thing is that everyone the following season had to play 1/3 of that season + playoffs in Orlando Florida.

Lakers would have been toast if they faced a better Raptors squad + Kawhi than the 2018-2019 championship season.

[The Great One]

i think this is generally true but the rockets don't belong on your list, they suck. their best young talent looks like sengun which is kind of a problem when they picked 2nd and 3rd in the last two drafts which look like they were loaded.

Sengun is better than Green?

[chris]

Sengun is better than Green?

he has been through 10 games or so this year, and it's not close. he still looks like a pretty one-dimensional chucker to me. a super talented and explosive one-dimensional chucker, but still.

but i'm biased. i didn't like him pre-draft and i think i'd take him somewhere in the 7-8 range if re-drafting that class now.

i'm not sure how you reconcile your hard-on for green with your hate-on for trent, given your main criticisms of trent also apply to green (pure gunner who is totally erratic and prone to shooting you into or out of games). obviously green's ceiling is way higher due to athleticism and ball handling ability, etc., but he's not the type of player i want to build my franchise around.

[chris]

I've said it as well that the Raptors championship would be the pinnacle moment of his NBA career cause in L.A it's going to go all downhill from there. His motivation was to secure the contract by playing the best basketball of his career in the location he wanted. What he didn't understand was that the Raptors team was constructed in a way that it was the best situation for him basketball wise and the East at the time was easier to navigate thru than the West.

Kawhi got the money, his family and his home in L.A so success in basketball on the court is much lower priority for him. As far he is concerned, he ain't worried about nothing but his health at this point . In the summer of 2024 Kawhi has an option of opting out of the last year of his contract (worth 48 Million dollars!) so in order to even considered for another contract he has to play in the year 2023-2024 some pretty good basketball which could be motivating enough. If however he can't put the injuries behind him than he will still opt-in for the last year and walk away from the game at the ripe age of 34.

Not a bad career after all but not what it could have been.

i don't agree with this at all. i don't think you can just turn off the competitive gene it took kawhi to become the player he did. you're born with it or you're not.

i agree with keon that there's a possibility there is something going on upstairs with his hesitancy to play injured, or maybe it really is a degenerative issue that will never get better, but i don't doubt that he still wants to win. it's crazy to me raptors fans would think he's just cashing checks after watching him here.

[G__Deane]

Chronic pain year after year has a way of pouring water on the competitive fire; it wears you down mentally ever more than physically and Kawhi has been battling it for years, not even just months. I don't doubt he still wants to win but sometimes the body over rules the mind. Maybe the will isnt what it once was and enjoying life while still getting paid large is pretty attractive.

And it's not like the drive to get paid is there to the degree it was a few years ago, dude already got PAID

[Dvdvideo]

I doubt he's faking anything, likely his body just breaking down. Some people's bodies just handle injuries better than others, and or conditions can be chronic and permanent. If anything he may be too optimistic, it's possible he should just retire now.

[The Great One]

he has been through 10 games or so this year, and it's not close. he still looks like a pretty one-dimensional chucker to me. a super talented and explosive one-dimensional chucker, but still.

but i'm biased. i didn't like him pre-draft and i think i'd take him somewhere in the 7-8 range if re-drafting that class now.

i'm not sure how you reconcile your hard-on for green with your hate-on for trent, given your main criticisms of trent also apply to green (pure gunner who is totally erratic and prone to shooting you into or out of games). obviously green's ceiling is way higher due to athleticism and ball handling ability, etc., but he's not the type of player i want to build my franchise around.

My main criticism of Trent is 1. he hasn't shown any improvement since his rookie year and 2. he's a one trick phony - and that one trick(shooting) is not even that reliable.

Green is a different type of player. He doesn't rely on his jump shot. He's explosive, can create his own shot, can score from everywhere, already a great finisher. And how do I know he's going to be a great scorer? because of his ability to get to the line. He averaged 3.5 FTA last year, 4.2 this year. Trent's career high in FTA? 2.6(this year).

[floraburris]

I'll go with Murray for ROY. fireboy and watergirl

My prediction for this year's ROY winner.