LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 6, 2021

Kawhi Leonard

Postgame Press Conference

Los Angeles Clippers 126, Dallas Mavericks 111

Q. You mentioned after Game 6, one of the factors of playing a good game was not turning the ball over. You had the ball in your hands plenty; how were awe able to take what you said the last couple games and apply it to your own game tonight?

KAWHI LEONARD: Just staying focused. Knowing where my teammates are, just staying poised. Just keeping faith, you know what I mean, just trying to win a basketball game, but at the same time, you have to be aggressive all night and don't try to make the game be perfect.

Q. What do you think of Luka did in this series and the challenges he presented to you guys?

KAWHI LEONARD: Oh, man, you know, he did everything. I don't know how many 40-point games he had, I believe three, three or four. You know, shooting it very efficiently from three for sure off the dribble shots. You know, just doing it all for his team. You know he's a great player and you'll see him for many years to come. He plays at his own pace and he makes it look easy out there.

Q. I know obviously Utah a really tough opponent, but what sort of big picture carryover do you think the team can have with what you guys went through in the first round?

KAWHI LEONARD: Just seeing how hard we played pretty much. You know, just trusting each other. The same thing you need to have to be the last team standing. But you know, it's going to be a different challenge next series. It's a different team. So we've just got to see what they do well and how we can higher our chances of winning.

Q. You mentioned trust, and Ty Lue before the game said the game is all about trust. How did you see throughout this series trust build within this roster?

KAWHI LEONARD: I think just as we watched film and we seen that we were leaving each other on an island, mainly on the defensive end, nobody's really selfish on the offensive end on this team. You know, that's up to me and PG and play-makers on the offensive end not to be selfish because you feel like you've got to do it all. But these teams are not won with just one or two great players; you need a whole 17 or 16 players that you have, guys on the bench clamming, letting you know what's going on and you know the rotation players.

You know, I think we had trust at the beginning, but we just had to dial in on what we were doing.

Q. For you guys to comeback from 2-0, stave off elimination these last two games, do you feeling some different in this team that wasn't there last year to help you guys come through in this Game 7?

KAWHI LEONARD: I don't know, I mean, I think I said this, I'm not thinking about last year. I'm thinking about what are we doing today and what the next step is tomorrow.

I'm glad that we showed character and we showed poise going down 2-0 going on the road, and that Game 3, that meant a lot to me this season. Obviously it got us to this next round, but like I said, it's all about this year. Now we've got to see what we can do this year to higher our chances of winning this next round.

Q. You've talked about winning championship habits and going through not only the highs but the lows. When you go through all the things you've gone through this series, how does it help a team try to get to that championship from your experience?

KAWHI LEONARD: You just know to keep faith. You know what you have gone through at times when we are at our worst and you could, you know, just propel from that, dig yourself out of a hole that you put yourself in. You know, it just gives you that confidence, I believe.

But that being said, this is one series and we have to focus on the next one.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Terance. After Game 5, he had that lay-up that he probably should have taken but he passed up and he was kind of down on himself. What was the last couple days like in terms of his confidence-building coming in and really helping you guys out there on the court ever since that Game 5 sort of blunder that he had?

KAWHI LEONARD: When did you see that he was do you know on himself.

Q. After he passed up the shot, he kind of grabbed his head like this and PG tapped him on the head and said it was all right.

KAWHI LEONARD: I don't think he was really down. Obviously it was a learning experience for him. But that being said, you know, we just stayed positive with him. He was still positive. He wasn't walking around sad talking about the same shot over and over. We all have those mistakes throughout our whole career, if it's a Game 7 game or if it's your first game of your NBA career.

It's about moving forward. You know, it probably won't be the last time he's going to think he should have did something. It is the game of basketball. We all think that, woulda-coulda-shoulda-type of moments, and this is just about moving forward and making sure you are smarter in those situations.

Q. You had an interesting answer the other night when Rachel asked you about experiences in previous Game 7s and you said you really don't think about the past. How do you have confidence like that out there? You've obviously done this before but you had it again tonight. Is it just staying in that moment and really not going back to the past?

KAWHI LEONARD: I mean, it's like that for me. I don't know how other players think or people think, but just for me, it's about the situation that's in front of you. Just because you played great in whatever, nine Game 7s, doesn't mean you play great in Game 10 and vice versa. It's all about the moment.

Sometimes when you're over-confident you play bad, and sometimes when you're down on yourself, you play good. But like I said, for me, it's about focusing on that moment, having fun and playing hard. That's it. It's a game of basketball.