Draymond Green went off on Kendrick Perkins on the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis for suggesting Kawhi Leonard should consider retirement after news surfaced that he would miss the start of the 2024-25 NBA season due to right knee inflammation.
"I was baffled when I heard him say that because I just think as an athlete, to know that a guy who people questioned whether he's cheated the game," Green said in reference to a previous theory that Leonard was faking an injury.
"But clearly as you look at this, this is what has happened over time," he continued. "The man hasn't cheated the game, he got better from the time he came into the NBA, he improved everything: Ball handling, shooting, you name it. And he started to get hurt, won championships, hasn't been the healthiest guy. People question whether he was really faking or not, and clearly the man wasn’t faking."
At the 3:30 mark in the video below, Perkins argued Leonard should contemplate retirement because the six-time NBA All-Star has dealt with recurring knee issues and he may reach a point where surgeries can no longer fix his problems.
ESPN's Malika Andrews pointed out Leonard has missed 179 out of 435 games since joining the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019.
Green eventually turned his focus on Perkins' final years of his NBA career, questioning why no one was advising him to retire.
"To hear Perk say, 'Yeah, he needs to retire, he needs to consider retiring,' I thought that was crazy," Green said. "Because Perk’s last three years in the NBA, nobody was pushing him into retirement, and everybody probably should have. The man averaged 2.5 points [per game] for three years straight and nobody was really pushing you to retire."
"Guys like [LeBron James] and [Kevin Durant] were actually inviting him to their teams, like they [were] kind of cheerleading for him," he added. "And to push this man towards retirement, like obviously the man wants to play."
After the Clippers were eliminated in the NBA playoffs last season, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith made a similar statement, suggesting that his team should be the ones to push Leonard into retirement.
Charania reported earlier today that it will be “weeks” before Kawhi returns.