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The LA Clippers have been playing without star forward Kawhi Leonard for nearly three weeks, but good news appears to be on the horizon. That's according to head coach Tyronn Lue, who spoke to members of the media at Friday's practice.
Leonard has played since October 23rd against the Phoenix Suns, sitting out the last nine games with stiffness and swelling in his surgically repaired right knee. According to Lue, Leonard participated in his first five-on-five action Friday morning ahead of Clippers practice.
“He played 5-on-5 this morning with some of our guys, some of our coaches,” Tyronn Lue said of Kawhi Leonard. “It's the first time he was able to get on the floor and play five-on-five, and he looked pretty good. Still have a ways to go, but that was a first sign of positivity of him getting on the floor and playing five-on-five.”
While Lue did say it's fair to say that Leonard is getting closer, he also clarified that Leonard will not play in Saturday's afternoon matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, adding that he's inching towards a return sooner rather than later.
“Not tomorrow. It's gonna take a few more opportunities to get that in to kind of reassess him and see how he's feeling after we go to medical and see if we check all the boxes.”
Reporter: "Update on Kawhi Leonard? Close to playing 5-on-5?"
Ty Lue: "He played 5-on-5 this morning with some of our guys, some of our coaches. He looked pretty good. Still have a ways to go but that was a first sign of positivity."
"Fair to say he's getting closer?"
"Yes." pic.twitter.com/IGLC1km2Ha
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) November 11, 2022
Just a few days prior, Lue said Leonard was progressing well with the the medical staff leading the way.
“He is progressing well,” Lue said Sunday before the Clippers took on the Cleveland Cavaliers. “We knew coming off an ACL, it wasn’t going to be a straight line. We talked about it before the season. The biggest thing is he’s progressing well. We are going to follow the lead of our medical staff, we got to be smart about the situation, but he is progressing.”
Although the team has been fairly silent on Leonard's injury and rehab, the team continued to operate with the idea that he'll return in the not-so-distant future. Lue moved Norman Powell to the bench to prepare him for the role he'll have once Leonard come back. Players have also been speaking of, ‘holding down the fort until 2 comes back,' — referring to Kawhi Leonard by his jersey number.
It's been killing Kawhi Leonard not to be out there playing with his Clippers teammates. After spending 15 months rehabbing his right knee from an ACL tear, the last thing Leonard wanted to do is sit out even more due to complications from it.
Before training camp, Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank said the team had prepared for multiple issues that could come up as far as Leonard's return, so this doesn't feel like anything overly concerning. At least not yet, anyways.
In the last nine games that Kawhi Leonard has watched from the sidelines, Lue said that Kawhi Leonard has been a strong voice off the bench.
“His voice has been great. I think during timeouts, on the bench, talking to the guys just his voice and his presence alone is huge for us, especially for our younger guys like T-Mann and Amir [Coffey] and new guys like John [Wall] and Norman [Powell]. And so he's been good in that regard and just being around and just having his voice.”
The LA Clippers will take on the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday afternoon without the services of Kawhi Leonard. They'll then travel to Houston to take on the Rockets and Dallas to take on the Mavericks in a two-game Texas trip before returning home on the 17th of November for a three-game home-stand.
In two appearances this season, Leonard has averaged 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per game on 44 percent shooting from the field. He came off the bench in both instances, which is something Tyronn Lue says he's not sure will remain the case once he returns.
