LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 21, 2020

Kawhi Leonard

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're going to get started with Kawhi.

Q. How have practices been the last few days? What are you hoping to achieve in these first couple scrimmages as a team?

KAWHI LEONARD: I mean, it's been good. You're able to be around the guys that you've been missing for the past three, four months.

Next scrimmage is just getting in shape, getting our team chemistry together, getting a flow, a rhythm. That's what I expect us to do.

Q. Does this restart feel more like training camp or a long road trip? What have been the unexpected pleasures of being in the Orlando bubble, whether it's no travel or team bonding?

KAWHI LEONARD: Yeah, right now it definitely feels like a training camp. You're going two weeks or so without playing a basketball game.

But I guess the pleasures is, just like you said, team bonding, just enjoying your teammates' company pretty much.

Q. During the hiatus break some guys weren't able to really shoot or anything like that. What were you able to do specifically basketball-wise? How different was it for you compared to, say, the off-season before entering the season because you were going off the long championship run? What were you able to do during this break you might not have been able to do last summer?

KAWHI LEONARD: I mean, towards the end of the break, I was able to get a gym, go full out, pretty much shoot, lift weights. But in the beginning just really wanted to be careful. Places were shut down, so it's hard to work out.

Towards that second half or the middle of it, I was able to find a place I could go to and shoot, run up and down the floor.

Q. You're a guy who has done a lot in your community with your actions. This league has provided players with a platform to speak out. What do you think the next steps are for the NBA and its players when it comes to addressing the social concerns that players have? How do you think being in the bubble all together as a group could kind of help address some of those concerns?

KAWHI LEONARD: Just showing unity really. We all have to come together and figure out what we are going to do. But having a group of people, the more people you have, the bigger the voice is, I think the bigger impact you can have on whoever's watching.

I'm not sure at the moment what we're going to be doing. That's something we need to discuss.

Q. (No microphone.)

KAWHI LEONARD: Keep doing the same thing I've been doing pretty much.

Q. There's been a lot of talk about the unknown of the long-term effects of COVID, what it can do for athletes in terms of their lung capacity, because it attacks the respiratory system. Among athletes like yourself who rely on your bodies to be in perfect condition, is that discussed, what it can do if someone gets it, on their long-term career?

KAWHI LEONARD: I mean, yeah, that's discussed. If you do get it, will it affect you to be able to play again. Like everyone knows it hits everybody's body different.

But I don't know. I'm not a doctor. I can't really say what's going to happen to players. I mean, obviously that's a discussion. We're all human beings.

Q. So many of you guys are routine-oriented. This is obviously different. The games are going to be way different. Are you going to try to maintain your routines from any normal season or do you feel like you will have to adjust what you do before game, postgame, that kind of thing?

KAWHI LEONARD: I mean, yeah, it's going to be an adjustment. I'm going to try to do the things I do to prepare when I do arrive to the arena. But I'm not sure how the setup is yet.

I just got to take it one game at a time, see what it's like during these scrimmages.

Q. Pat was saying he spent some time working out with you during the hiatus. What were those sessions like for you, what you might have learned about Pat?

KAWHI LEONARD: Came up wanting to work. Just pretty much showed him what I did, my routine. Already knew he was a hard worker. Just meet him this season, want to get better every day.

When we worked on stuff, pretty much told him some tips here and there on what to do, what to look for. It was up to him to grasp that or suck it in like a sponge. I think that's what he did. Came back better.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.