LA Clippers’ All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard missed the last eight games of the regular season through inflammation to his surgically repaired right knee and now with the postseason getting underway this weekend, faces a race against time to heal before helping lead his inconsistent Clippers teammates against a familiar foe in MVP candidate Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in R1.
Clips’ president of basketball ops: Leonard doing everything
Los Angeles Clippers [4] vs. Dallas Mavericks [5]
2024 NBA Playoffs, first-round matchup in best-of-seven series
Game 1: Sunday in LA, 8:30pm BST
LAWRENCE Frank, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, acknowledged the sensitive predicament his ball club find themselves in right now.
Having endured a topsy-turvy finish to the regular season, they could potentially be without their best player when Dallas come to town this weekend and stay into midweek for the first two games of a playoff series with jeopardy on the line for both.
Heading into Thursday, Leonard hadn’t yet gone through contact drills as the days tick by and pressure starts building on their shoulders to disclose a timeline for his return, Frank saying he’s experiencing “some very, very stubborn inflammation.”
That’s to be expected. It’s the same knee which has undergone multiple surgeries to repair a torn ACL and meniscus, while he turns 33 in June and has miles aplenty on the clock over an illustrious 13-year career edging ever closer to its final conclusion.
So while his right knee being described as “solid and intact” is encouraging wordage from the team’s perspective, and that of their fans, you can be forgiven for having some skepticism given how his injury history has been handled in the past.
“There’s no gamesmanship here and we’re very sensitive of the fact that questions are going to be asked, want to be as transparent as possible.
It’s OK to say what the truth is – it’s unpredictable – we’re hoping it’s trending in the right direction, it’s a very accurate statement. When it gets to a point where he’s able to play, that’s when he’ll be back.”
Frank refused to divulge any more detail on whether Leonard received an injection to help him manage the pain, though reporting by reputable sources suggests he will feature – at what level is unclear – though the team are being cautious.
“Some things you can’t control, regardless of how meticulous he is with his body and everything that goes into playing. You can only control what you can, surrender to the things you can’t. We would never put Kawhi or anyone on the court if there’s grave or future injury risk.”
Leonard had surgery on a torn ACL sustained during their second-round series against Utah in 2021. Last summer, he had a cleanup procedure to repair the torn meniscus suffered in the same knee during their first-round victory over Phoenix.
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via ESPN
Mo and Sports 