Watch: Stephen A. Smith’s take on Kawhi Leonard is hotter than the Arizona heat

With the Los Angeles Clippers facing elimination in Game 5, Stephen A. Smith served up the hottest of takes on Kawhi Leonard.

The Los Angeles Clippers‘ hopes of reaching their first-ever NBA Finals are fading with each Devin Booker fadeaway and Deandre Ayton alley-oop.

Ahead of Game 5, Stephen A. Smith suggested the Clippers should consider moving on from Kawhi Leonard.

“I don’t know if it’s in the Clippers’ best interests to keep him,” Smith said of Leonard, who has a player option for 2021-22.

“Let me be clear about something: Kawhi Leonard is a top-five talent in this game. He is elite. But when you take into account the load management, when you take into account that his personality doesn’t exactly actually gravitate towards leadership, […] I’m sorry, I think it’s something [the Clippers] have to think about long-term.”

Watch Smith’s full take in the video below.

Stephen A. Smith thinks Clippers should move on from Kawhi Leonard

Struggling with a knee injury, Leonard has not played since Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Utah Jazz. He was ruled out of Game 5 and did not travel to Phoenix with the team because traveling by air will affect Leonard’s swollen knee.

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The two-time NBA Finals MVP is one of the game’s all-time great playoff performers, but to Smith’s point, that doesn’t help much when he’s not in the building for pivotal games. Smith points out that in the long term, prioritizing team culture and the improvement of younger guys like Terance Mann may be more important.

Hopefully, the Clippers can survive elimination games long enough for Leonard to potentially come back and make an impact. Otherwise, Stephen A. Smith may not be the only person questioning his value to the Clippers moving forward. However, it’s unlikely Leonard will be able to return in the Western Conference Finals, and a return to the NBA Finals should they advance that far is questionable at best.