Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard is expected to be out indefinitely as he continues to rehab from right knee inflammation, league sources tell Shams Charania and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
At the team’s media day on September 30, Leonard expressed optimism about being ready for the regular season opener on October 23. Based on ESPN’s report, there’s essentially no chance of that happening.
Leonard, who dealt with inflammation in his right knee at the end of last season and underwent surgery during the offseason, has yet to take part in contact drills and is working on strengthening the knee. He was ruled out for the remainder of preseason earlier this week.
“He has not been a part of what we’ve been doing on a daily basis,” Clippers assistant coach Brian Shaw said after Wednesday’s practice. “I know the company line has been that we’re going to be patient with him, so he’s doing everything that he can to rehab it and strengthen that knee on his own with our medical staff. And we’re just dealing with the guys that we have [available].”
According to ESPN’s duo, the Clippers and Leonard are working together to find the best long-term solution to keep the two-time Finals MVP healthy. The team plans to be cautious with Leonard, who tore his right ACL in 2021, then his right meniscus in 2023. He missed the entire 2021/22 season while recovering from the ACL injury.
A two-time Defensive Player of the Year, the 33-year-old remains a two-way force when active. He appeared in 68 games last season (34.3 MPG), averaging 23.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.6 SPG and 0.9 BPG on .525/.417/.885 shooting. However, as previously mentioned, he was hampered by the knee inflammation to end ’23/24, including in L.A.’s first-round playoff loss to Dallas.
Leonard was originally on USA Basketball’s roster for the 2024 Olympics in Paris over the summer, but he was replaced with Derrick White before the event began. Team USA claimed the gold medal after edging past Serbia and France in the semifinal and final, respectively.
With Leonard sidelined to open the season and Paul George departing for Philadelphia in free agency, the Clippers will have a difficult task in replacing their production, particularly on offense. They’ll need multiple players to step up, with offseason additions Derrick Jones and Nicolas Batum among the candidates for more playing time.
Leonard is under contract through ’26/27 after signing a three-year, $152MM extension last season.
But the Clippers and Kawhis people said he was healthy and it was all Kerrs fault they cut him from the olympic team… 3 Months later and the only way hes playing min is with a walker!
i know, right?? i was told that he was totally healthy and that grant hill only kicked him out because of “politics” …
It’s so funny when people blame the coaches for almost everything. My player sucked … it must’ve been the coach and not the actual player who stunk.
Starting to wonder if maybe Kawhi should hang it up. He’s never healthy anymore.
150M reasons not to
Yeah, I’m sure Ballmer and the organization are happy with him being paid $150 mil to sit on the bench in street clothes. It’s to the point now where they should seriously look into a potential medical retirement scenario
Balmer lost his right to be upset when he offered Leonard his extension. Everyone with at least 1 functioning eyeball and brain cell could have told him that this was going to happen.
Clippers have earned their spot in the dumpster. I hope a free hot dog to whoever screams the loudest is enough to fill the seats to that new arena.
Why would he with teams like the Clippers don’t enough to keep signing him to fat contracts/extensions (unless they’d have substantial injury protection)?
So u are saying knee injuries like the one he has never gets better.
> So u are saying knee injuries like the one he has
> never gets better.
At best he’s intermittently at unpredictably available. At $50M/yr, that’s a franchise killer.
Balmer is now looking for alternate entertainment for his new arena grand opening.
Clippers gonna Clip’
LOL. Different arena, same old Clippers.
Time for him to retire. Not trading Paul George to GSW is looking more and more like a mistake.
Bitterness tainted comment.
Clippers received nothing when George walked without a trade. Where’s the bitterness LOL
How and why did you give this guy more money?
Ben Simmons gets so much hate for not playing yet this guy hasn’t played in forever and gets a pass.
Might have something to do with career accomplishments
@ Reno. One of the perks of being an international player. Media treats you a little differently than the home grown. Ben was faking mental health and back issues. Apparently anyone can walk in off the street and demand back surgery. Kawhi has stolen way more money than Simmons. Brilliant in his day was Kawhi. Those days are long gone, dudes getting paid appearance fee’s like some ex gun golfers. Turn up, smile, wave to the crowd….cheque please.
Bit of a reach.
Ben Simmons is not a fair comparison.
.
Outside of missing an entire season 3 years ago after tearing his ACL, Kahwi has averaged 61 games over the last 5 years. He’s had 4 major surgeries over the last 8 years. That’s 4 grueling rehabs along the way.
Call him injury prone, but don’t minimize his desire.
@aristotle: lmao, you can’t just toss out the full season he missed. Including the missed season, he’s played in about 46 games per season over the last five years. Over his entire career, he’s only played in about 56 games a season.
I won’t question his desire but I also wouldn’t correct anyone who did.
> I won’t question his desire but I also wouldn’t correct
> anyone who did.
That’s chicken-s**t. You won’t be critical of an injured athlete’s character because you’re above that, yet you’ll ridicule other fans for defending the athlete’s character?
Kahwi tore both his ACL and his MCL, and has had at least 3 major procedures on the knee since then. That’s at least 4 grueling rehabs he’s completed to get back on the court. (And we suspect he recently had another procedure.) Everybody knows that Kahwi plays with pain, like any athlete with his history.
Maybe he really does, as you imply, lack “desire” to play, but I’ll defend the character of any athlete in his circumstances, especially against those that mock him.
Leonard is 100% physical.
RIP Clippers season
KL’s actual underlying knee condition is obviously top secret, which suggests it isn’t good. Still, you’d think, at some point, leveling with the fanbase would be deemed the best course of action by the team or mandated by the league. Injuries happen, but KL has had several seasons end without him having suffered any on-court injury that was deemed serious enough for him to be taken out of the game. Inflammation isn’t an injury, and surgery wasn’t performed on it. Even for the NBA, this is too much.
Shocking
This must sound haunting familiar to Spur fans.
We Spurs fans never got over how his leaving San Antonio went down.
Does this guy ever want to play?
The eternal question …. which team is the more cursed, snakebitten & voodooed franchise.
CLIPS or KANGZ?
Portland
The Clippers are a failed experiment.
No stars, no draft picks.
Well, at least they have a shiny new stadium and an older, fat Harden. Let’s go.
To be fair, so are the Nets, Hornets, Pacers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Magic, Suns, Wizards, Knicks, Kings and Jazz.
^ Yup, but we’re making fun of the Clippers right now.
I can only assume that journalists have had this story sitting in their drafts folder for a while, just waiting to plug in the details and hit “publish”.