Kawhi Leonard’s FRUSTRATING habit could cost Clippers over $1 MILLION in fine

The Los Angeles Clippers might face substantial fines from the NBA should Kawhi Leonard, their key player, continue to miss games in the upcoming season.

Kawhi Leonard’s FRUSTRATING habit could cost Clippers over $1 MILLION in fine

Kawhi Leonard (Ben Margot/AP)

Kawhi Leonard is one of the biggest names in the NBA and is one of the best players in the league when he is on the floor. The problem with Kawhi is that he cannot stay on the court for a long span of time. He has been among the most injured players in the league and has played one of the fewest games of the stars. 

Kawhi only played 52 games last season and that also with limited minutes. He has never been healthy in the playoffs outside of his run in the 2020 playoffs, where they lost a 3-1 lead against the Denver Nuggets and never achieved postseason success since. Kawhi was a problem for the LA Clippers last season but he might become a headache financially next season.

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In a recent meeting NBA Board of Governors approved a rule that counters load management in the regular season where stars rest in a significant number of games, even in nationally televised games. The new rule will punish teams for resting their star players in nationally televised games and in-season tournament games. A star player is defined as a player who has made an All-Star or All-NBA team in the past three seasons.

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According to the new rule, teams will be heavily penalized for sitting out their star players by imposing fines on the team. Under the new rules teams will be penalized $100k for the first violation, $250k for the second offense and an additional $1 million on top of their last fine on each additional offense. This can affect the Clippers, who have to negotiate a new contract for their star players this season. 

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What is the new rule enforced by the NBA and what teams does it target?

Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic for the Dallas Mavericks (Image via @LegionHoops on Twitter)
Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic for the Dallas Mavericks (Image via @LegionHoops on Twitter)

The NBA Board of Governors has decided to enforce a strict penalty on teams who decide to sit their players out in the season in the hopes that they retain their draft pick or hope to have a worse record in hopes of getting a higher draft pick in the upcoming draft. The new rules do not force players with injuries to play just because their games are televised.

The rule has various exceptions for players who are injury-prone and the veterans of the league who have heavily contributed to the league for a long time. The new rules will allow players to rest for an extended period of time if they are suffering from injuries or for personal reasons. In addition, players who have played more than 34,000 minutes in the league like LeBron James and Chris Paul, will be allowed to rest in back-to-back games.

This rule is majorly in play to counter teams like the Dallas Mavericks or Portland Trailblazers, who rested their star players like Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Damian Lillard to get their draft picks intact but won’t heavily penalize teams like the Los Angeles Clippers whose stars are usually out from games because they are suffering from injuries.

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