The Golden State Warriors are not in great shape, and they’re so banged up that one of their players was forced to play against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday despite a hurting wrist.
The result was an odd moment when he had to shoot with his off hand during a trip to the free throw line.
Malevy Leons, a two-way player, was called upon to play against the Spurs at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., as part of a very short Warriors rotation. Golden State had only nine players dressed for the game, and Leons, who had not played more than 20 minutes in a game before Wednesday, ended up logging 29 minutes against San Antonio.
In the first quarter, the right-handed Leons shot with his left hand from the foul line. He missed, but there was only so much he could do with his offhand.
The Warriors are so thin and injury depleted that Malevy Leons took a free throw left-handed tonight
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) April 2, 2026
He hurt his wrist two weeks ago and the Warriors badly need any bodies they can get. Impressive toughness by Leons to even be out there pic.twitter.com/pwEayxCmWF
It wasn’t a 2026 recreation of Larry Bird’s legendary “lefty game” by any means, but Leons did enough to earn praise from Warriors head coach Steve Kerr following Golden State’s 127–113 loss to the Spurs.
“I’m sure fans don’t know this, but Malevy is right-handed and his wrist is really messed up, so that’s why he shot those free throws left-handed. He’s out there basically playing with one hand,” Kerr said, via Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. “And he’s flying around and he’s making energy plays. … I’m just really proud of the guys for the effort, the energy, the way they hung in, and hopefully that effort carries over into tomorrow.”
Leons finished with 5 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Fans could see him shoot lefty again Thursday, when the Warriors host the Cleveland Cavaliers.
