On Kawhi Leonard’s injury last night

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Remember last night when I mentioned the curious moment when a visibly-shaken Kawhi Leonard intentionally fouled to get himself out of the game? Yeah, it appears we have an explanation:

Then there was the peculiar injury that forced Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard to leave the most tense portion of the game with 1:31 remaining. He suffered a gash on his kneecap when he fell to the court and encountered a nail sticking up from the hardwood.

 

“I just hit the hardwood on one of those nails, really hard,” said Leonard, who made two of the biggest plays of the period for the Spurs. “It busted my knee wide open.

 

“It kind of felt funny when I tried to explode up the court when we got the ball and I tried to cut to the basket, so I had to come out and see what was wrong before I injured it worse.”

Gross.

The timing of the injury is what led me to believe there was something odd going on. Kawhi Leonard doesn’t seem like the type to voluntarily (nay, INSIST he) leave the game when things are tight and the outcome isn’t quite decided. It just seemed like unusual behavior from him. I don’t want to toot my own horn or anything, but I think I was right.

No word on his availability for Wednesday against the Hornets.

TWITPIC OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN, KAWHI!

  • Steve Tallent

    If he was bleeding, wouldn’t it make sense to run up to a ref and tell them he’s bleeding? Or do they not stop games for that any more?

  • este

    Somebody on the Spurs bench should have noticed. You could clearly see he was limping badly after he fell. I feared it was an ankle.

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