Kawhi Leonard drops mic on Darius Garland after Clippers debut

On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Clippers clawed back closer to the .500 mark with a solid road win over the Golden State Warriors, outscoring the Dubs by 15 points in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. This game marked the Clippers debut of point guard Darius Garland, who came off the bench and scored 12 points to go along with two assists in 23 minutes of action.

After the game, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard had high praise for what the young guard brings to the table.

“Number one, just competitive nature… We’re gonna be looking at him to get us involved, get him some shots, pushing the pace in transition for us, and just getting everybody involved and calling sets so we’re not stagnant at times. I think he’s able to do that. He’s an All-Star player. I’m just looking forward to playing more basketball with him,” said Leonard, per Joey Linn on X, formerly Twitter.

Garland was brought in to the Clippers after the team shockingly traded James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers shortly before the deadline.

The 26 year-old is a two-time All-Star in the NBA, although injury concerns have unfortunately become a major part of his career story in recent years, and Los Angeles will hope that those are alleviated for the rest of this season and beyond.

While he might not be quite the playmaking savant that Harden is, Garland is still a capable distributor who is also more than able to create his own offense off the dribble, as well as being a solid catch and shoot threat from beyond the arc.

All of these tools seemingly make him a nice fit next to Leonard in Los Angeles, even as the team further gutted their roster at the deadline by sending Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers.

The Clippers will next take the floor against Indiana on Wednesday evening.

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