The Los Angeles Clippers will be dealing with another Kawhi Leonard absence against the Suns.
The Los Angeles Clippers will take on Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, but they’ll be doing so without the services of Kawhi Leonard. The six-time NBA All-Star will be unavailable as he continues to rehab from inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee.
Kawhi Leonard’s injury status vs. Suns
The LA Clippers will open the doors to their all new Intuit Dome on Wednesday, but the official injury report has Kawhi Leonard has out for the game against Kevin Durant’s Suns. In addition to Leonard, Mo Bamba has also been ruled out with knee soreness.
Leonard’s club wrapped up training camp today, three weeks after kicking things off in Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Leonard made the trip to Hawaii, but did not participate in any team drills.
In fact, Kawhi Leonard has yet to practice with the team since the season started, instead only working on strengthening his knee following a stubborn bout with inflammation.
During Clippers’ media day back on September 30th, Leonard said the plan was for him to play on opening night.
“His right knee, the swelling has significantly gone down,” Frank said of Kawhi Leonard. “It’s almost gone. He wants to participate in everything in training camp, but we’re gonna hold him back from drill work and really focus on strengthening because the goal is to get him 100% so he can have a great season not just this year but for many years. We’ll have a detailed plan, step-by-step, have objective measures to go from one phase to the next but he’s super determined, super excited, and can’t wait to get started.”
Lawrence Frank on Kawhi Leonard in his opening statement: “His right knee, the swelling has significantly gone down. It’s almost gone. He wants to participate in everything in training camp but we’re gonna hold him back from drill work and really focus on strengthening because…
Since the 2020-21 season, Kawhi Leonard has dealt with a torn ACL in his right knee, a torn meniscus in his right knee, and now the inflammation in the same knee. He’s been unable to complete four straight postseasons, and the Clippers are determined to do whatever they can to make sure the streak ends there.
“We just gotta go step-by-step [with Kawhi Leonard], just make sure we’re checking all the boxes,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “The medical staff is going to tell us when he’s ready to do everything and what he can do. So our focus is on the guys who are practicing, we’ve got to make sure we’re doing it hard, doing it the right way, and no shortcuts. That’s got to be our mentality. Every night, we have to come out and play hard, compete at a high level, but no shortcuts. That’s got to be our main focus.”
“I can play,” Kawhi Leonard said when asked why he’s still going. “I mean I played my most games I’ve in a long time last year. I played like 68 games, was one of the guys that probably didn’t take a rest break earlier on in that season… Obviously, from a fan base or just from my own competitive nature, we didn’t reach a goal, but in the grand scheme of things, and how my body’s been doing it. It was a good year. I went from 0 games to 52 to 68, so let’s see if I could keep it going from there.”
Kawhi Leonard will continue to rehab until he’s able to participate fully with the team. Leonard continues to have no timeline to return, and the Clippers aren’t to put any kind of pressure on Leonard to return either. At this stage, Leonard is not expected to return at any point in October, and anytime in the early portions of November also appear to be unlikely.
To start the season, the Clippers are expected to start James Harden and Norman Powell at the guard spots alongside Terance Mann, Derrick Jones Jr., and Ivica Zubac in the frontcourt. Head coach Tyronn Lue says he expects to play a nine or 10-man rotation to start the season as he continues to find out which players play better — or worse — with others.
Kai Jones is also expected to replace the injured Mo Bamba in the Clippers lineup as he continues to rehab his knee soreness. Jones may only be 23 year old and in his second season in the league, but was impressive in the preseason.
The Clippers’ season opener against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns will tip off at 7:30PM PST at Intuit Dome.