Kawhi Leonard has been unable to finish any of the last four seasons for the LA Clippers. With the team set to hold Leonard out of drills to start training camp due to management of his surgically repaired right knee, Leonard spoke Monday about his hope that the inflammation that ruined his postseason and national team run will be under control enough to allow him to play next season.
“Taking it day by day,” Leonard said at the team’s media day at Intuit Dome. “Everything has been going great for the past month. But being very cautious for reasons in the past. I haven’t been able to finish some playoff runs. So making sure I stay healthy for those important moments.”
Leonard, 33, has undergone surgery on his right knee three times since suffering a partially torn ACL in the 2021 Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz. In July 2021, Leonard underwent surgery that kept him out of the entire 2021-22 season.
Leonard returned to postseason play in 2023, only to suffer a torn meniscus that required surgery that offseason. Leonard’s knee wasn’t an issue last season until April, but the swelling kept him from finishing the regular season, limited him in Games 2 and 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against the Dallas Mavericks, then curtailed his playoff run prematurely while the Clippers were eliminated in six games.
“I played my most games I played in a long time last year, played like 68 games and was one of the guys that probably didn’t take a rest break earlier on in the season,” Leonard said Monday. “Obviously, the last two years, I came back from an ACL and been injured. It’s a progression for me.
“It was successful as far as last year. Obviously, from a fan base or just from my own competitive nature, we didn’t reach a goal. But the grand scheme of things and how my body’s been doing it, it was a good year. I went from zero games to 52 to 68. So let’s see if I can keep it going from there.”
The Athletic reported last week that Leonard underwent a procedure in May to address the injury, and while Leonard was medically cleared to play for Team USA at the Summer Olympic Games, Leonard was replaced by Boston Celtics guard Derrick White. Despite all that, Leonard says that he has had a relatively normal offseason of training to prepare for this fall.
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Kawhi Leonard undergoes knee procedure in May, will be held out of drills to start training camp
“Leading up to the Olympics, after the Olympics, everything was great,” Leonard said. “And then, like I said, we want to make sure we cut things back. We did things leading up to that point, I was doing everything. And then we took a step back and wanted to make sure I’m ready for the season and just be able to last in those important moments for myself, fans, and Clippers.”
Asked Kawhi Leonard about his new team and what he has learned (if anything) about his knee injury from April and July. pic.twitter.com/mQWZqHOUfH
— Law Murray 💡 (@LawMurrayTheNU) September 30, 2024
When Leonard was asked about being available for the Intuit Dome regular-season opener on Oct. 23 against the Phoenix Suns, Leonard expressed hope that he could be ready to play. But he is determined not to skip steps on his way towards being as close to 100 percent as he could reasonably be.
“I’m never planning to miss games, but it’s just about my body. I’m a human being, and we’re playing basketball,” he said. “So it all depends on what we want and what we figure out and how my body is feeling right now. I think it’s a positive thing to think I will play. But we’re taking it day by day, like I said.”
Leonard’s chronically murky status comes in the wake of Paul George, his sidekick for five seasons in LA, leaving in free agency to join the Philadelphia 76ers. When asked if there is added pressure going into this season without George, Leonard scoffed at the thought that his mindset would change.
“He obviously made things easier on the court for players, but as far as my mental focus going into the game, I don’t feel like it’s going to be harder for me personally,” Leonard said. “I didn’t look at, for anybody I’m on the court with, I don’t look at him to be my savior. I take in my own role and my challenges that I have to fae each and every game and go in there and try to dominate the game.”
Leonard shared high praise for James Harden, saying that the two have a “great relationship” and can be “transparent to each other about how we play, good or bad.” Harden is preparing to accept even more responsibility for the Clippers offense to begin the season, while expressing that Leonard should “take his time”.
“I think we need Kawhi later in the year, and healthy,” Harden said. “So I think whenever ‘whi’s ready, I’m not sure how much conditioning and things he’s been doing, but whenever he’s ready or whenever he’s available, then he can take his time and join in. But I think for us, it’s just making sure we’ve got our structure and everybody’s ready to go. Then whenever ‘whi is ready, ‘whi will join the team.”
James Harden says that people were talking down on his style of play even in Houston so of course there will be talk now.
He knows the offense will come down to him. But Harden named several players (starting with Zu) that he is looking forward to stepping up in vacated roles pic.twitter.com/W31wMmNc6o
— Law Murray 💡 (@LawMurrayTheNU) September 30, 2024
Harden also pushed back on comments that have been made about the Clippers’ identity and not playing the right “style of basketball,” something that both George and Russell Westbrook have suggested was a point of conflict as the latter two future Hall of Famers departed from the Clippers. In turn, Harden compared himself to fellow isolation-heavy Dallas point guard Luka Dončić, saying “we’re going to figure it out” around him.
“I’m going to tell you one thing, it’s going to involve a lot of me,” Harden, the 2018 MVP said. “Not just because I can create a shot and I can get guys involved. There’s always going to be talk. There was talk when I was in Houston and I was doing what I was doing, ‘You can’t win like that!’ Where you just seen a guy last season who made it to the Finals playing the same exact way that I play. Team’s got to be constructed very well, and you got to have a little bit of luck.
“You got to make sure you’re healthy and all those kind of things got to play into a factor. So for me, training camp, and these preseason games, we’ll figure out how the style needs to be played and then we’ll go from there.”
It is doubtful that Leonard will play Saturday as the Clippers face the Golden State Warriors in Hawaii. But Leonard is feeling good about his progress, and he has a goal of completing a season on the floor for the first time in five seasons.
“We’ll figure it out,” Leonard said. “I’m happy that I’m feeling good and feeling a lot better than it was. So I just, like I said, we just take it one day at a time, one step at a time. And hopefully I can get through these playoffs this year.”
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(Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE via Getty Images)
