LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Clippers will be without Kawhi Leonard for least the next two games. This according to head coach Tyronn Lue, who on Monday night revealed that the Clippers star will not travel to Houston or San Antonio as part of the two-game trip. Instead, he'll stay in Los Angeles to rehab his knee.
“He is not going to be on the trip,” Head coach Tyronn Lue said of Leonard, who also didn't participate in any of the team's latest practice on Saturday.
That will bring the total numbers of consecutive games missed to six by the end of the trip. Through seven regular season games, Leonard has played in just two of them, totaling 25 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists across 42 minutes of play off the Clippers bench.
Leonard expected to be coming off the bench for an undisclosed period of time to start the season, but stiffness and swelling in the surgically repaired right knee have changed their plans for now.
The change in air pressure and altitude can cause discomfort, stiffness, and even swelling in a knee that was recently constructed on. Everybody's bodies react differently, and this appears to be what Kawhi Leonard is currently dealing with.
“He’s frustrated,” Tyronn Lue said of Kawhi Leonard. “He’s frustrated. He wants to be out on the floor and then not being on the floor, and then now he can’t travel. He wants to travel, but the doctor said it’s not the right thing to do right now with the stiffness and what he is going through. Just frustrated after putting all the work the last 15 months and to get to this point and not being where he wants to be physically but he is getting better and that is the most important thing.”
Kawhi Leonard had been out since June 14, 2021, when the Clippers took on the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference semi-finals. Leonard took a bump from Joe Ingles, a hit that Marcus Morris to this day calls a cheap shot.
"For him to go out in such a — I felt like it was a cheap shot but, you know, such a cheap manner. I think that’s what hurt the most. A non-competitive play. He’s in great spirits. I know he’s happy to be out there."
Marcus Morris on the play that injured Kawhi Leonard in 2021 pic.twitter.com/olC5lsrdCd
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) October 24, 2022
The plan was for Leonard to play consistent minutes off the bench without messing up Tyronn Lue's rotation entirely. Leonard described as playing through foul trouble at times.
“You gotta gradually play minutes in order to get the ACL strong,” Kawhi Leonard said following his return to the Clippers lineup on Opening Night. “Once you start playing 38 minutes first game, it could easily weaken up but I’m listening to the doctor with that. Like I said, it’s a long season. We wanna get in the playoffs and want me to play in the playoffs. These first weeks are not so important but they are but like I said we got players that can fill that role for me.”
No back-to-backs for Kawhi Leonard, whose focus is strengthening his ACL right now.
“You gotta gradually play minutes in order to get the ACL strong. Once you start playing 38 minutes first game, it could easily weaken up. I’m listening to the doctors with that.” pic.twitter.com/NAo6wErUkj
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) October 21, 2022
Kawhi Leonard's next opportunity to return to the Clippers lineup will come on Sunday, November 6th against the Utah Jazz. As it stands, Leonard hasn't officially been ruled out, but it would appear unlikely that the two-time NBA Finals MVP is ready to play in five days when traveling isn't even something doctors are recommending.
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