As the season winds down, some of the Raptors faithful may have noticed that Kawhi Leonard seems to have been resting games due to ‘load management’ at an even higher frequency than what we’ve been used to throughout the season.
On some cases, this has culminated in losses of some perhaps otherwise winnable games for the Raptors, who are three games back of the Milwaukee Bucks for the first seed in the East. Still vying for playoff position, some fans have pushed back on the practice of Leonard sitting games out.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Leonard shed some light on the load management and his health, explaining just why he misses games.
Kawhi and the Raptors have been open about their long-term approach with Kawhi’s health, after the quad contusion injury that held him out for most of last season and was seemingly the reason for his fallout with the Spurs.
Raptors general manager Bobby Webster has even revealed that this is part of the Raptors’ pitch to re-sign Kawhi by showing that they’re willing to prioritize his health first, and their star has already shown the team some love for this approach.
