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Hall of Famer and Golden State Warriors consultant Jerry West shared the same opinion of many who watched Game 1 and witnessed the unfortunate injury to San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard, who was knocked out of the game with 7:52 left in the third quarter, as his team's considerable lead rapidly dissipated, resulting in a 113-111 loss.
“To lose someone of his caliber when they were playing so well, and to lose a game they played well enough to win, to be honest with you,” West told KNBR's The Murph and Mac Show. “Frankly, if he would've been there we (Golden State) would not have won that game.”
“He's one of my two, three favorite players in the league, I absolutely love Kawhi Leonard as a player,” West added.
Leonard had 24 points in the outing before knocking down a pair of free throws through the pain of his second ankle sprain of the quarter, quickly heading to the locker room per head coach Gregg Popovich‘s orders.
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The Klaw was an effective 7-of-13 from the floor, but most importantly — an impeccable 11-of-11 from the free-throw line, constantly getting to the line against a team that desperately tried to close the floodgates.
His immediate exit brought on a 16-0 run by the Warriors, which they eventually capitalized down the stretch, taking home an unforeseen Game 1 win after trailing by 20 points at the half.
“Sometimes luck comes into play,” West said. “We were fortunate he wasn't able to play, but I don't know how you could practice or even consider practicing preventing someone from stepping on someone's foot. I think he (Leonard) stepped on David Lee‘s foot and hurt it before. How do you define that?”
