Source: http://ocregister.com/2026/03/10/clippers-kawhi-leonard-darius-garland-duo-looks-promising/

“It’s pretty easy to play with him because everybody’s afraid of him. Everybody’s going to double(-team) most of the time,” Garland said of the seven-time All-Star. “So, when he makes the right read, that’s when we (the rest of the team) go out there and just be aggressive and play.”

“He’s an All-Star player. I’ve been saying that he could see the floor very well, a great point guard who can shoot the ball, (he’s) very crafty with his handle and can finish it at the rim,” Leonard said. “I know what type of player he was coming in and he’s proven himself and he’s only going to get better.”

heat_fan_ | Raptors

212 | 8 hours ago

Healthy Kawhi still a monster

maiL_spelled_bckwrds | 76ers

35 | 7 hours ago

I still have nightmares about it

BatmanNoPrep | Lakers

16 | 6 hours ago

Healthy Kawhi is the wrong label. It’s Contract Year Kawhi that is the actual monster. He always puts up enormous numbers in the season before he’s either extension eligible or a pending free agent. It just so happens that Kawhi is extension eligible this coming summer. He’s playing like an MVP.

IkigaiMendokusai

19 | 5 hours ago

And when he doesn’t have an expiring contract he chooses to get injured right? Crazy logic.

OneOfTheOnly | Raptors

7 | 4 hours ago

it’s gotta be more like he plays hurt in contract years in a way he doesn’t usually

IkigaiMendokusai

3 | 2 hours ago

Ok whoa the mental gymnastics from this take is on a whole nother level.

OneOfTheOnly | Raptors

1 | an hour ago

what are you even talking about bro

people at all levels get away with doing the bare minimum work without getting demoted or fired, kawhi does the same thing

Dallas2houston120

3 | 4 hours ago

That’s efficient contract hunting right there.

persianx6_

2 | 4 hours ago

Too bad no one knows what’s happening to him when the NBA concludes on the investigation

shortyman920 | Lakers

101 | 8 hours ago

Clippers honestly did very well with their moves. I never understood all the hate against the Clippers FO. Like yeah they’re scumbags for their past actions, but I never thought they made overall poor decisions, and they aren’t afraid to make moves unlike half the franchises in the league.

Getting younger with Garland AND acquiring an asset back was huge. Mathurin + the gamble on that 1st from the Pacers for Zubac is also huge. This FO knows how to build a pro team and navigate assets

brnccnt7

27 | 8 hours ago

Yeah at least they’re trying to be competitive unlike some teams

I too thought the whole cp3 thing wouldn’t be something they could come back from

Impressive they’ve done this

Creative_Parsnip_385 | Warriors

9 | 7 hours ago

Low risk gamble with Garland but hey he looks pretty good out there!

jdd32

14 | 7 hours ago

For real. It’s easy to go “lol Clipper’s” but they’ve been the most competent org in LA for awhile.

It’s scary to think how good the Lakers will be if they end up run like the Dodgers.

shortyman920 | Lakers

29 | 7 hours ago

I’ve been a Laker fan for 25 years now and Clippers’ organizational competence has been incomparably better than ours since Ballmer bought the team.

I’ll give our own front office this - they are bipolar as fuck in their results. On one hand they did use the Laker brand to get guys like Lebron, AD, and now Luka. On the other hand, the amount of talent and assets we wasted could fill out an entire West playoff roster. There’s like no in-between with these morons. That to me shows incompetence. It’s the marginal value moves and overall asset management that’s actually impressive. Not just saying we’re the Lakers, come play for us superstar. Anyone with charisma can do that on the Lakers

ChargeFinal925 | Lakers

12 | 4 hours ago

Lmao give me an incompetent org with a ring than an competent org without a ring any day of the year

night_dude | Bucks

2 | 4 hours ago

Preach

lalakingmalibog | Mavericks

-3 | 6 hours ago

Lmao yall didn’t use the Lakers brand to get Luka, Nico was just a dumbfuck who had a boner for AD and a vendetta against Luka

ImAShaaaark | Supersonics

9 | 7 hours ago

understood all the hate against the Clippers FO. L

Do people hate the clips FO other than the “paying Kawhi under the table” shit? Since Balmer they have almost always managed to put together a talented squad and it seems they usually get the people they target via trade and FA, their biggest issues are player health and coaching.

shortyman920 | Lakers

1 | 7 hours ago

I saw a lot of clowning for their PG trade to OKC and clowning them for not having their 1st this year. And that led to a whole list of other comments clowning Lawrence Frank, and calling him one of the worst execs in the league. Like no guys, Lawrence Frank has done a good job overall. And he earned his latest extension

beefJeRKy-LB | Lebanon

5 | 7 hours ago

The PG trade is massive revisionist history. Yes it looks like an L today but at the time, SGA was expected to probably an all star guard or something, not the insane MVP player he is today. On top of that, it was a way of getting a 2x finals MVP in Kawhi alongside another high end wing in PG who was 3rd in MVP voting the year prior. It literally caused arms races around the league. They of course ended up with a mix of bad luck and poor decisions meaning they have one WCF to show for all that. But in the moment, it was definitely a worthy gamble of a trade.

ASweetSaltySanchez | Clippers

5 | 4 hours ago

Honestly, if we dont lose Kawhi in the Jazz series, i think we take it all that year.

I think that playoff run was our best chance with those 2.

beefJeRKy-LB | Lebanon

1 | 3 hours ago

Agree. That was his best year by far IMO

shortyman920 | Lakers

1 | 6 hours ago

Yeah the deal on paper was for PG, but it was to get both PG and Kawhi in reality. I doubt it was the Clippers FO that leaked out that he would only sign with them if they got PG. Kawhi’s camp probably leaked out that and the FO had to adapt accordingly.

Whoareyoutho9

3 | 5 hours ago

There was no ‘leaking necessary’ They had been talking for months at that point, it was full on tampering. Frank ‘earned’ his extension in multiple ways. He’s a smart basketball gm that understands the business and how it works. He also knows where the bodies are buried cuz he buried them. Not mutually exclusive ideas at all.

Key-Brother1226

1 | an hour ago

SGA may have been a surprise to fans but the team that already had him should have foreseen his talent explosion. Imagine him and Kawhi in those years

Viskozki

6 | 7 hours ago

I mean honest answer to why there was hate is we have like 9 guards 5 forwards and 2 centers. One whos foots broke and the other who’s 37.

ExerciseNext1831

2 | 5 hours ago

Don’t forget Clippers got Zubac for Mike Muscala. Flipping Mike Muscala to Zubac(also adding Kobe Brown) to Mathurin, Isiah Jackson and two 1st Round Pick should be commended.

Hopefully Lakers new owner can pulled a move like that in the future.

Riskybusiness622

1 | 6 hours ago

Look at the Thunder’s roster and you’ll understand the hate for their FO.

SloshaPacana

0 | 7 hours ago

I mean yes they did well considering circumstances but now they will have to pay Mathurin, Garland is good but not worth 40m a year

Will be interesting to see what they do though, next season they will have some cap space

shortyman920 | Lakers

2 | 7 hours ago

I think the Aspiration penalty is something that would hang over any star free agent that might want to come to Clippers via open cap and FA. A healthy Garland isn’t that bad of a deal for $40mil a year all things considering and locks him in. And Ben Mathurin has upside for sure, but won’t be making near max with this next contract because of his inconsistency. If Kawhi is gone, then he’ll want the opportunity to get featured in LA and put up numbers. So these two plus the 1sts they received at least secures some young, high talent, along with assets for a future that could look bleak with penalties to the franchise and Kawhi. Because they weren’t going to win anything meaningful with an aging Zubac/Kawhi/Harden trio. They get younger now with more assets in the bank.

sleepyE0295

36 | 8 hours ago

Healthy Kawhi is my GOAT

jefe_hook

-2 | 8 hours ago

Who is your Sheep then?

PunningLynguist

8 | 8 hours ago

2014 Finals Game 2 Kawhi before he locks in and wins FMVP

Certain_Strawberry77

3 | 7 hours ago

Gotta be BAAAAAAm AdeBAAAAAyo

sleepyE0295

1 | 8 hours ago

What’s that?

jefe_hook

-2 | 8 hours ago

If you have a Goat, you gotta have a Sheep too

sleepyE0295

8 | 8 hours ago

Aw ion know nothin about that

Ok-Tree4365

19 | 8 hours ago

One of Kawhi’s biggest areas of growth over the past couple years (besides his handles) is his ability to make the right read out of double teams.

Thick_Duck | Thunder

17 | 8 hours ago

I’m terrified of anyone who can eat a dozen apples in one go

WallyWithReddit

18 | 8 hours ago

They’re gonna triple team him so much in the playoffs

FrankSamples | Clippers

12 | 8 hours ago

If we want to be faithful to the MVP award, he deserves to be in the running. Yes, I know it’s Shai’s award to lose, but how can a player’s impact be reduced down to good stats + team record without taking in account context?

shortyman920 | Lakers

16 | 8 hours ago

Don’t take it personally, Luka is 6th in the MVP voting. These MVP ladders aren’t exactly rocket science, just a panel of narrative morons.

kuhzada | Spurs

4 | 7 hours ago

As a Spurs fan that still despises Kawhi, objectively speaking he should be in contention. He is arguably far more important to this squad than any other star in the league.

Agreeable_Citron7481

8 | 5 hours ago

Only guy I’ve ever seen LeBron get mildly frustrated when he checks into a game

ChristianLesniak | Nuggets

7 | 4 hours ago

“He’s the type of player that will bury you and plant a tree over your corpse”

TDImig | Clippers

1 | 18 minutes ago

First time I’ve laughed at an aspiration joke lol

EchoBay | Raptors

5 | 6 hours ago

Hornets and Clippers are the two play in teams nobody in either conference wants to see lol. Imagine you spend all year getting a top seed, and you gotta play an MVP level Kawhi in the first round.

ExerciseNext1831

1 | 5 hours ago

Darius Garland meant players doubling Kawhi makes it easier for him.

johnnygodzilla

1 | an hour ago

Wet ball

AccomplishedRainbow1 | Suns

1 | an hour ago

I was at his game a couple of weeks ago. The doubles were insane. The defense was glad to give up open catch and shoot threes and rotate defensively rather than let Kawhi cook.

Darius Garland on playing with Kawhi Leonard: “It’s pretty easy to play with him because everybody’s afraid of him.”