Don’t talk to Kawhi Leonard about resting down the stretch. He wants none of it, per the San Antonio Express-News‘ Melissa Rohlin:
Star forward Kawhi Leonard, meanwhile, has informed the coaching staff he would prefer to play in each of the Spurs’ remaining six contests.
“I told them I want to play out the games,” Leonard said. “But we’ll see what happens.”
The chances of the Spurs playing Leonard in each of their six remaining games is, approximately, less than zero percent. Head coach Gregg Popovich rests guys, even when the stakes are high. It’s what he does. It’s what he’s (almost) always done. He began that process on Sunday, when he at Danny Green, Manu Ginobili and LaMarcus Aldridge during San Antonio’s win over the Utah Jazz.
Leonard might have an outside shot at playing out the schedule if the Spurs remained in the hunt for first place in the Western Conference. Mathematically, they are still in that race. But the Golden State Warriors have a three-game lead in the loss column with less than seven contests remaining for both them and the Spurs. It’s beyond unlikely San Antonio is able to erase that gap, making it, in turn, even more unlikely Leonard gets to play in every single one of his team’s remaining tilts.
It’s for the best, really. Coach Pop would have him take a seat even if first place was still in play. Leonard has appeared in 69 games thus far. He leads the Spurs in minutes. His MVP case is made. And unfortunately, it won’t hold up against those from James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
But the Spurs can and will do their best to ensure Leonard holds up throughout the playoffs and the rest of his career. It’s great that he wants to play. Awesome. Squared. But the Spurs are forever big-picture planners, and not resting Leonard would be a stark divergence from their usual character.
