News broke last week that Kawhi Leonard had another offseason knee procedure, putting his availability for the start of the upcoming NBA season in doubt.
It turns out that he’s planning to be available for the Los Angeles Clippers’ season opener. But it’s not a sure thing. Leonard shed some light on the situation during media day on Monday.
“Yeah, that’s the plan,” Leonard told reporters about playing opening night. “I’m never planning to miss games. It’s just about my body. I’m a human being. And we’re playing basketball. So it all depends on what we want and what we figure out and how my body’s feeling.
“As of right now, I think it’s a positive thing to think that I will play. But we’re taking it day-by-day.”
So it’s not a certainty, as tends to be the case when it comes to Leonard’s health. But it’s more clarity than provided by last week’s update from the Clippers that the team was optimistic about his progress in response to a report that Leonard underwent an unspecified “knee procedure” in the offseason. The Clippers didn’t provide a timeline last week.
Leonard had the procedure after experiencing lingering inflammation in his right knee that’s undergone surgery in the past to fix a torn ACL and a torn meniscus. Leonard played 68 games last regular season, the most he’d played since 2016-17 with the San Antonio Spurs.
But the inflammation sidelined him for the final eight games of the regular season and in four of six playoff games in a 4-2 series loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the opening round of the postseason.
Leonard then accepted an invitation to play for Team USA in the Paris Olympics. But Team USA replaced him with Derrick White ahead of the Games, citing Leonard’s “best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than participating in the Olympic Games in Paris.”
Leonard confirmed Monday that his activity in training camp would be limited out of caution with the goal of limiting risk to his health for a potential postseason run.
Kawhi Leonard said he is taking things day-by-day physically and the Clippers are being cautious with when he will be ready to start playing. pic.twitter.com/7mgRGbhiDc
— James H. Williams covers UCLA football (@JHWreporter) September 30, 2024
“Everything’s been going great for the past month,” Leonard said. “But we’re being very cautious for reasons in the past, you know, I haven’t been able to finish some playoff runs. So making sure I can stay healthy for those important moments.”
Making it to the postseason could prove tougher for the Clippers in 2025. Nine-time All-Star Paul George departed in free agency to join the Philadelphia 76ers. If healthy, Leonard will be featured in a lineup alongside offseason acquisition Derrick Jones Jr. in place of George and returning former All-Star James Harden.