They're forever linked. Partners for runs to the NBA Finals, including a team performance in 2014 that registers in the annals of basketball lore…to recent losing streaks at the start of seasons that come with tons of excitement. It's impossible to tell Kawhi Leonard's story without the San Antonio Spurs.
And it's quite possible that the most devastating day in Spurs history came courtesy of Leonard.
Five years worth of hard feelings later – mostly from Spurs fans – Leonard and the Spurs meet again Monday night in San Antonio.
The then: Leonard with the Spurs
July 18, 2018 not only meant an end to months-long tension that seemed like an eternity for normally drama free San Antonio, it signified a shift of power in the NBA. Before the previous season in which Kawhi Leonard played in only nine games because of an injury that proved the root cause of the rift with the Spurs, he had transformed into one of the league's very best players.
The ascension from a relatively unknown draft pick in 2011 to 2014 NBA Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Awards in '15 and '16 reached an individual Spurs peak when he averaged 25.5 points per game in 2016-'17 and finished third in MVP voting, leading the Spurs to the Western Conference Finals.
The trade: Leonard joins the Raptors
The headliner of a trade that involved DeMar DeRozan, Danny Green, Jakob Poeltl and a first round draft pick that would turn into Keldon Johnson, Leonard led a Toronto Raptors franchise that previously couldn't get over the hump to the championship his first season there.
That same year, the Spurs finished with the seventh seed in the West and fell in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.
A summer after the most consequential trade in recent Spurs history, there was no debate about who had the upper hand.
The aftermath: Clippers sign Leonard
A free agent signing with the Los Angeles Clippers shortly after the 2019 title, Kawhi Leonard's year-by-year results continue to comparable favorably with the Spurs. His time in LA has featured appearances in the conference finals and semifinals. But injuries at key times have also defined his time back home.
The Clips didn't qualify for the postseason in 2021-22 as a result of Leonard missing the entire year in recovery from an ACL injury. Los Angeles' first round exit last year came after the 32-year-old star did not play in the last three games of the series against the Phoenix Suns because of a torn right meniscus.
Meanwhile the Spurs have failed to qualify for the playoffs during that same four year span, capped with last year's 22-60 record. Beforehand, they had missed the playoffs only three times since their move to San Antonio in 1973.
The now: Spurs struggling, but Victor Wembanyama provides hope
What's happened to and with the Spurs since the spring of 2023 doesn't need rehashing. More so than even their five title runs, the franchise finds itself consistently in the national limelight.
Through the first month of the season Victor Wembanyama has proven capable of meeting expectations that come with such anticipation. His team on the other hand…
The Spurs rough start has been matched only by that of the Clippers. A 106-100 LA victory at the Houston Rockets on Friday prevents what would have been a match-up between teams that had lost eight and seven consecutive games respectively.
Now 4-7, Kawhi and company handed the Silver and Black the first of what's been three losses by more than 30 points this season with a 123-83 blowout.
The future: San Antonio rebuilding
It's likely ‘The Klaw' will finish this season with the upper hand once gain. For all the struggles since the addition of James Harden, the Clippers still feature a top heavy, albeit aging, roster that could make things interesting in the West as the season goes along.
Youth is the Spurs main issue. But with Wemby, a couple of players taken with lottery selections, and numerous future draft picks in the fold, they're consumed with what comes later.
With Kawhi Leonard in town, it's a future that includes a reminder of where this latest course started.
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