Despite the recent disarray surrounding the load management of Kawhi Leonard, the Los Angeles Clippers have no definitive plan to keep their star forward from playing in back-to-back games for the remainder of the season, according to Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic.
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers has echoed this publicly:
“We don’t have a plan right now,” said Rivers. “Obviously, he hasn’t played in a lot of back-to-backs. That doesn’t mean he will not. But right now, early on, we’re going to keep to the same plan that we’ve kept to so far.”
The Clippers have a meticulous paper trail excusing Leonard for his load management absence against the Milwaukee Bucks, the second nationally televised game he has missed in the span of eight regular-season games.
While the Clippers' medical team explains Leonard is not fully healthy and in no condition to play in consecutive days, Rivers and Leonard himself argue that he's fine and healthy — fully contradicting what the team report states.
The NBA was also involved in this decision, justifying the Clippers' reasoning for sitting Leonard out — an intervention that is unprecedented when it comes to the handling of load management.
Leonard has yet to play a back-to-back since April 4 and 5, 2017.
The Clippers will handle his schedule weeks ahead at a time, but there is no knowing whether he will be making progress the more he plays or just further compounding his durability the more miles he puts on his 28-year-old legs.
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