Perhaps the hottest team during the month of December, the Los Angeles Clippers have done an excellent job of closing out 2023 on the right foot. Entering the month of December with an 8-10 record, the Clippers have won 10 of their last 12 games to fly up the Western Conference standings. Led by Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden, Los Angeles now finds themselves five games behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 1-seed in the West after many were contemplating whether or not this team would even make the playoffs. Leonard has been superb during the Clippers' success, yet he has missed their last three games with a hip injury. Kawhi's injury status has been a major question mark, as the Clippers have left everyone in the dark about Leonard's ailment. After having his status upgraded on the team's injury report, many are now asking: Is Kawhi Leonard playing tonight vs. the Grizzlies?

Kawhi Leonard injury status vs. Grizzlies

Clippers star Kawhi Leonard

We always tend to hear about Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Luka Doncic, but nobody ever wants to bat an eye at Kawhi Leonard and what he has achieved with the Clippers this season. While they got off to a slow start, the Clippers have been arguably the hottest team in the league over the last month. Kawhi has had a huge impact on their recent string of success.

Regarding his status for Friday night's game against the Grizzlies, Leonard was initially listed as questionable to play. The Clippers wouldn't provide further details on his status until later on in the day after evaluating his movement and pain level. Unfortunately, he was ruled out for the contest, per Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints.

While he played in the team's first 27 games of the season, Leonard is now set to miss four straight games as a result of what the team has called a left hip contusion. Head coach Ty Lue has not provided much context as to what is going on with his star forward and the team as a whole has consistently downplayed the level of concern. Nonetheless, Leonard has not practiced much and is obviously bothered by this injury.

Leading the Clippers in scoring, Leonard has averaged 24.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 52.1 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from 3-point range this season. Prior to his injury, Leonard was averaging 29.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in the month of December. Since his injury, the Clippers have gone 1-2, losing on the road by 19 points to the Oklahoma City Thunder and falling by 37 points at home to the Boston Celtics. More recently, the Clippers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 113-104 in Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

So, when it comes to the question of if Kawhi Leonard is playing tonight vs. the Grizzlies, the answer is a big NO.