Kawhi Leonard is happy to be part of the Los Angeles Clippers, and he did not forget to mention it during the team’s media day Monday.
“I’m here,” Leonard said, per sports journalist Arash Markazi. “I’m here to be a Clipper. I’m not going to another team unless something drastic happens. I’m here for the long run.”
“I made my decision based on at first, obviously, family, being closer to my family, being in the state of California,” Leonard continued.
“Once I got here, I learned who works here, who was in the front office, and just building chemistry with the staff and people in the front office. A big part of it was just winning.
They want to win, I want to win, and I’m home. I’m comfortable with the guys on my team, and I just felt like it was a good situation.”
The veteran superstar signed a four-year, $176-million contract to remain in L.A. It’s still unclear if he will help the team in the upcoming season as he recovers from a partially torn ACL suffered last postseason.
The Clippers’ president Lawrence Frank said recently no one knows when Leonard will be ready to return to action, after Leonard suffered the injury during the 2021 West semifinals vs. the Utah Jazz.
“…there’s a lot of concerns that that brings up for you guys and your job, and it creates storylines that I’m going to leave the team. I wanted to secure some money and I wanted to be able to come back if I was able to this year.
If I had taken the one-and-one, I probably would have not played just to be cautious and opted out into the five-year,” Leonard said on his decision to sign a four-year contract this past offseason.
