The Los Angeles Clippers are set to face LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto Dot Com Arena Thursday night. The Clippers had been without superstar forward Kawhi Leonard for the entire 2021-22 season as he recovered from a torn right ACL. As the star gets closer and closer to his highly anticipated return, it leads to one to wonder: Is Kawhi Leonard playing vs Lakers?

Is Kawhi Leonard playing vs Lakers?

The Clippers wrapped up their preseason schedule with a 2-2 record. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, John Wall, Reggie Jackson, Nicolas Batum, and Norman Powell all alternated playing in games. Leonard only made two appearances in the preseason, averaging 9.5 points, two rebounds, and two assists per game on 43.8 percent shooting in just 16.5 minutes per game.

Last season, the Clippers accumulated a 42-40 regular season record, all without the two-time NBA Finals MVP. The latest quotes from head coach Tyronn Lue indicate that Kawhi Leonard will play vs Lakers on Thursday night.

Here's the Clippers forward's first basket in his first preseason game back against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Kawhi Leonard underwent surgery to repair the partial tear of his right anterior cruciate ligament on July 13, 2021. It has been nearly 15 months since his ACL surgery, and he has been hard at work to return for the start of the 2022-23 NBA season.

The Clippers star was first seen taking jump shots during practice last October 19:

NBA on TNT later reported that Leonard was doing explosive box jumps as of November 10th.

“Um, jump up on this table,” Lue said, putting both hands on the three-foot high table he was sitting in front of. “Just seeing him active and being able to jump and progress in the way he is, it's just good to see. But that's about it.”

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Here's what Tyronn Lue had to say about Kawhi Leonard following his first five-on-five practice with the team on Day 1 of training camp.

“He looked really good,” Lue said. “Went through everything, both practices, so it was good to see. He said he feels good and ready to practice today. That is a great sign. We just kind of read him, read his body, let the medical tell us what we need to do but he is a go for today so that is good.”

There was a lot of anticipation for Kawhi Leonard's return last season, but the star and the team ultimately ended up playing it safe and sitting him out for the whole year.

On Media Day, Kawhi Leonard essentially confirmed he wasn't going to be able to return last season.

Ahead of the Clippers' opening night matchup against the Lakers, Tyronn Lue says the team will be playing it safe with Kawhi Leonard and John Wall.

“We have a goal in mind of what we want those guys to play and so I’m not going to let you guys know that, but just make sure we do the right thing, just being smart and trusting the data that we’ve received back from those guys and just making sure their body’s feeling well, how they’re feeling, and then we can continue to slowly, slowly progress. But we just got to make sure right now we’re doing right by those guys and even if they want to play more and do more we can’t allow that to happen.”

As the Clippers prepare for their first game of the regular season against the Lakers, the question is answered… Is Kawhi Leonard playing tonight? Yes, he is.