Consider it a warning from soft-spoken Kawhi Leonard. And it wasn’t the first such warning he has issued to his Clipper teammates.
Leonard has been saying recently that the Clippers have been winning on sheer talent, and that they’re still falling short of their maximum potential in many areas. He said it again Monday, and pointedly so, after the Minnesota Timberwolves took the Clippers apart in the third quarter of the visitors’ 121-100 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
His voice was quiet, but his meaning was loud and clear: they can’t rely on talent alone, and they must back that up every game with consistent effort and discipline at both ends of the floor.