Anthony Edwards did not overthink it after facing Kawhi Leonard. He simply said what many players around the league have long believed.
“In all honesty, Kawhi may be one of the best players to ever play the game when he’s healthy,” Edwards said after the Clippers’ 153-128 win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday night. “I think a lot of his peers feel the same way about him. When he’s 100%, ain’t no stopping Kawhi.”
Anthony Edwards on Kawhi Leonard:
“In all honesty, Kawhi may be one of the best players to ever play the game when he’s healthy. I think a lot of his peers feel the same way about him. When he’s 100%, ain’t no stopping Kawhi”
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The timing of that quote mattered, because Leonard had just delivered another reminder of what a fully functioning version of him still looks like: 45 points in a dominant Los Angeles performance.
That is what makes Edwards’ reaction so compelling. It was not empty respect or routine postgame flattery. It came in the immediate aftermath of Leonard carving up Minnesota and continuing a surge that has helped push the Clippers back over .500. Leonard’s 45-point outburst was his fifth 40-point game of the season, and it came as Los Angeles became the first NBA team to climb above .500 after once sitting 15 games under.
Edwards’ words also reflect Leonard’s larger standing among his peers. Few stars inspire this kind of reverence when healthy because few have ever blended physical power, efficiency, shot creation and defensive control the way Leonard has. The résumé supports the awe. Leonard is a two-time NBA champion, a two-time Finals MVP and a seven-time All-Star.
That, of course, is the essential caveat with Leonard, and Edwards acknowledged it directly. Health has always shaped the Kawhi conversation. The talent has rarely been in doubt. Availability has been the variable. But that is also why comments like Edwards’ hit harder than ordinary praise. They come from players who know exactly how difficult it is to guard elite scorers and still speak about Leonard as something close to unsolvable when his body allows him to be fully himself.
In that sense, Edwards was not just complimenting a veteran star after a big game. He was describing a basketball truth that still lingers whenever Leonard is moving well and playing freely. The league may have moved into a younger era, but nights like this are a reminder that Kawhi Leonard, at his best, still belongs in the highest tier of the sport’s most feared players.
