LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Clippers‘ season ended earlier than anyone expected after all of the hype coming into the year. Unfortunately, injuries once again ravaged the franchise's two stars — Kawhi Leonard and Paul George — en route to a first-round exit. No one is taking it harder than the two stars.
Leonard started the postseason hot, scoring 38 points in 41 minutes on 54 percent shooting in a Game 1 road victory against the Phoenix Suns that had many surprised. In the win, however, the Clippers star suffered a tear to the meniscus in his right knee. He played through the pain in Game 2 against doctor's orders, scoring 31 points in 38 minutes on 55 percent shooting, but severely aggravated the injury to the point where he had to be shut down.
The details of Leonard's meniscus tear — if it's a full tear or a partial tear — haven't been officially released, but the team has said it's unclear whether or not he will require surgery on the knee.
“We don't know,” Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank told members of the media at the end of the season. “With a torn meniscus, it's how it impacts each player. It varies, and there's a wide range of treatments. We'll just continue to explore the possibilities and see what's the best form of treatment. You don't know a recovery time until you form what's the best treatment.”
Kawhi Leonard had put in upwards of 15 months of rehab and training to return from the torn ACL in his right knee. The injury, which Leonard suffered during the 2021 postseason and essentially ended that championship run, finally seemed behind him as he started to work his way into good shape this regular season. By the time the playoffs came around, Leonard had closed the regular season out flirting with 50-40-90 — 50 percent shooting from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range, and 90 percent from the free throw line.
“I feel really bad for Kawhi and PG, our team, the staff, Steve,” Frank continued. “because we feel like we let our fans and that group down.
“Injuries suck. They suck. But they happen. For Kawhi and PG, for everything they put into their bodies to be healthy at this time, and to be injured, it's devastating for them. They're agonized. It's painful.”
The Clippers didn't reveal Leonard's injury throughout the postseason, giving many people reasons to question his status. Not that he cares much himself, but the criticism grew so loud that head coach Tyronn Lue came to Kawhi Leonard's defense.
“He's definitely hurt,” Tyronn Lue said. “It's not load management where he's taking time off. He's shown in his past that he's played through injuries in the playoffs. If it's something he can't play through, then it has to be pretty serious. We're not talking about he's sitting out because of load management or he's tired or nothing like that. It's an actual thing.”
Even co-star Paul George, who only played 38 games with Kawhi Leonard this past season, chimed in and defended Leonard.
“It's super frustrating,” George added. “It's super frustrating to put so much into the season, put so much into this group and the organization to put so much into making a team that could compete and again year after year just getting zapped by injuries it's frustrating. It's definitely frustrating. That wasn't the reason I came here, I know it wasn’t the reason [Kawhi] came here. We obviously had big plans to win and do something special for Clipper Nation.”
Lawrence Frank says that regardless of Kawhi Leonard's offseason plan to address the meniscus tear, the two-time NBA Finals MVP is expected to be ready to go for training camp
“Kawhi will be ready for next year,” Frank said. “The really encouraging thing is obviously the major injury is the ACL. The ACL is firmly intact, which is great. So this is a meniscus tear, and then over the whatever, next couple weeks, figure out what's going to be the best source of treatment.”
The Clippers plan to continue building around Kawhi Leonard and Paul George next season. The two stars, who both have two years left on their deals with an opt-out after the 2023-24 season, are now eligible for long-term extensions.
“If I look at it over the four years of — and it's three obviously with Kawhi tearing his ACL — you look at the total minutes that those two have played together and where we're at, it's at the highest of the high levels,” Frank explained. “So that's what gives me great optimism with both those guys, that with a little luck and surrounding them continually with players that fit them, that we're going to be able to achieve our goals.”
All in all, the Clippers have only seen Kawhi Leonard and Paul George play together in just 142 total games since 2019, including the postseason. The Clippers have a 96-46 record when the two play together in the same game, a .676 winning percentage, which would be on pace for 55 wins in an 82-game season.
If season ends tomorrow, here's Kawhi Leonard & Paul George's records in their first 4 years together with Clippers:
2019-20:
50 games played (27-10 reg, 7-6 post)2020-21:
54 games played (32-11 reg, 6-5 post)2021-22:
0 games2022-23:
38 games played (24-14 reg, 0-0 post)— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 25, 2023
“There are some very encouraging signs. I think in the games Kawhi played, we were 33-19, and you look at our offensive and defensive rating during that time. A little bit misleading I think with Kawhi and PG we were 24-14, but some of that is a ramp-up from ACL, and like guys playing 24, 26 minutes, different things.”
The Clippers will spend this offseason trying to find creative ways to get more athletic. Whether that's at the point guard position or the wing depth around Leonard and George, the Clippers believe they're missing a piece to their championship puzzle.
“I think what you do is you go through a process,” Frank said. “You evaluate everything, and you have to have a very open mind and be creative about ways we can get the team better. You have a series of truth telling. We don't try to fool ourselves and try to figure out, okay, how can we get this team better. I'm optimistic that we will get better, both internally and what the different possibilities are outside of our team.
“To me, you're building a team. You're not collecting individual talent. We've seen that even with the different roster moves we've made, that you say, ‘Okay, like you're trying to project, can this player play with this player, and if they have the same redundant weaknesses and you can't surround them with guys that can compensate for them, it makes it really tough on a coach to, hey, I've got these really, really good players, but they don't really fit together.'”
For the fourth year in a row, the Clippers went home early wondering what could've been if they stayed healthy. Is the fifth time the charm? Is that a thing? Because fans of Los Angeles' second team are watching the Lakers and Golden State Warriors fight it out.
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