Load Management: Why it’s necessary for Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers have employed a load management strategy with Kawhi Leonard that is important for both parties but has garnered mixed reactions.

For the ninth time this season, and the second time in as many weeks, Kawhi Leonard is missing a game for load management. After suffering an injury that limited Kawhi to just nine games in the 2017-18 season, the load management strategy was adopted by Leonard and his new Toronto Raptors team, to the tune of the first NBA Championship in franchise history.

Since then, there has been speculation that such a strategy was exclusive for that season, due to it following such an injury-plagued end to Kawhi’s tenure in San Antonio. To the surprise and displeasure of many, load management has been just as much in play this season for Kawhi and the Los Angeles Clippers, as it was last season in Toronto.

Much of the expressed displeasure from fans, media, players, and coaches alike, has come from a place of ignorance. While some of this can be justified by the misleading and misinterpreted comments from Kawhi in his introductory press conference with the Clippers, the majority of the ignorance is simply due to an unwillingness to receive the knowledge that already exists.

The specifics of Kawhi’s injury are available to the public, as well as their direct correlation to a need for load management. Continuing the narrative that Kawhi is simply resting games because he can, is misguided and utterly incorrect.

The Clippers have a careful and particular schedule for Kawhi and his health. Before diving into the theoretical reasoning behind the Clippers adopting the same philosophy that netted Toronto their first title, let us instead look at the technical and necessary reasons behind Kawhi’s load management.