Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard does not have a optimistic view for the rest of the reason, as he said to a reporter the teams contender hopes are over
Despite the Los Angeles Clippers starting off their return from the All-Star break with a narrow 115-114 victory over the fourth-place Denver Nuggets on Feb. 19, forward Kawhi Leonard doesn’t have an optimistic view for the rest of the season.
After the game, Leonard said to a reporter yesterday that the team’s playoff hopes are over, so they should focus on development for the rest of the season.
“Just development over time,” Leonard said. “I think it’s over now. It’s a fourth of the season left. But every day is a day to grow. A day to learn and get better. So just gotta keep looking over time and see in two weeks if we’re getting better and see what happens from there.”
YIKES: #Clippers fans look away.
“I think it’s over now”
Kawhi Leonard on what the Clippers need to do to be a contender pic.twitter.com/nzSmRer4Te
— FirstDownMedia (@FirstDownMediaa) February 20, 2026
The Clippers have had an up-and-down season to this point. They started the season 6-21 — tied for second to last in the Western Conference — before they went on a 16-3 run, to climb to 22-24.
When the trade deadline came, instead of buying in hopes of continuing this success, the Clippers traded away guard James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for guard Darius Garland and center Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers for two players and three draft picks.
If the Clippers were to tank for the rest of the season, though, it wouldn’t benefit them because they traded their 2026 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder back in 2019 in the Paul George trade.
The Clippers are 27-28 — good for ninth place in the west and a play-in spot if the season were to end today — and their next game is tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena.
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