Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is one of the best players in the world when healthy. The problem is, he’s barely on the court for the Clippers and it seems to be the case this season as well after the latest injury update by Shams Charania.
“Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is expected to be sidelined for an indefinite period of time to start the NBA season as he rehabilitates the inflammation in his right knee,” wrote Shams on X.
Leonard, 33, is a 2x NBA champion and 6x All-Star who signed a three-year, $152.4 million contract with the Clippers back in January. This season was supposed to be an opportunity for repetition for Kawhi and the crew but they’ll have to find a way to play on without him as he completes his process of recovery.
“The Clippers and Leonard are in the midst of a rehab process for the two-time NBA Finals MVP that is aimed to bring sustainability for him on the court through the season, and the franchise will be diligent and cautious to ensure his fitness long-term,” wrote Charania.
With James Harden and a slew of talented veteran role-players, the Los Angeles Clippers should be able to hold it down until Kawhi’s return and they are used to operating without him by now. Still, concern rises with each day that he fails to suit up.
As NBA pre-season concludes, Leonard has yet to practice with the team and now his return to action has no concrete timetable. At 33 years old, Leonard is seemingly entering a new stage of his career and he’s doubling down on all the tactics that made him so controversial in the past.
This season, at his age, Kawhi and the Clippers are playing it safe and they will be more restrictive than ever regarding what games he shows up to play for. Of course, it also means sitting out for every injury and taking the slow recovery process back to the court.
Leonard has pulled these tactics for years now, using every excuse in the book not to play in “meaningless” games and strenuous back-to-backs. Even when fully healthy, he sat for the sake of injury prevention just to limit his workload.
After trading Paul George this summer and suffering a terrible defeat in the playoffs, the hope was that Kawhi would come into this season with a rejuvenated spirit to make one last title run. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was certainly hoping so after spending billions to build their new state-of-the-art arena.
As arguably the most cryptic star in the NBA, it’s going to be near impossible to say for sure when Kawhi will return or how many games he plans to play this season. His first order of business is to get back to full strength but after that, it’s to preserve his body for as long as he can.
With averages of 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game last season, Leonard proved that he still has a lot left in the tank. But as he gets older and starts to make himself less available, the Clippers may have to start looking elsewhere if they want to compete at the highest level. Since his arrival in 2019, the Clippers have had nothing to show for their success and it seems this upcoming season will be more of the same.
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