LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard will miss the beginning of the 2024-25 NBA season as he continues to rehab his surgically repaired right knee, a team source said Thursday.
Leonard has not suffered a setback in his recovery, the team source said. But he has not been cleared to practice and the circumstances that caused the team to not commit to a timetable for Leonard’s eventual return remain in place, even with the team’s regular-season opener against the Phoenix Suns at the new Intuit Dome approaching on Oct. 23.
ESPN reported Thursday that Leonard is expected to be sidelined indefinitely to start the season.
On Monday, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue did not include Leonard in his team’s opening-night lineup. The quintet of James Harden, Norman Powell, Terance Mann, Derrick Jones Jr. and Ivica Zubac will start Wednesday when LA hosts the Suns. (Powell is expected to remain a starter when Leonard returns.)
Leonard underwent a procedure in May to address his knee inflammation and was cleared by late June to work out in front of USA Basketball officials.
The Clippers have maintained that Leonard is out indefinitely, and that remains the case. He was medically cleared to play for Team USA at the Paris Olympics, with less on-court responsibility than he has with LA. Leonard arrived at training camp with a sleeve on his right leg and was able to participate in the initial practices for Team USA.
But he was replaced on the roster shortly before the tournament began. (Joel Embiid, another Team USA player recovering from a knee injury, did play in the Olympics, but has not participated in preseason and will likely sit out some regular-season games for injury maintenance).
When asked if Leonard would play on opening day, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank would not commit to a timetable; Leonard was out indefinitely.
“I think that the timing is all going to basically depend on how his knee responds to each phase,” Frank said on Sept. 24, a week before training camp. “No one has a crystal ball. We’re trending in a really, really good direction. I know he’s super determined to have a great year.
“But the timing, I think when it comes to your body and your health, I don’t think you put timeframes on it. You just have to respond to how he responds.”
While Leonard’s goal was to be ready for the team’s first regular-season game, he acknowledged on media day that “we’re taking it day by day.”
“The biggest thing for us is making sure we do right by Kawhi,” Lue said a week ago before the Clippers preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets. “Not let him hurt himself trying to get back early. We can’t skip steps, we got to follow the process. Our medical staff is one of the best in the league.
“We got to make sure that we’re checking every box, we’re doing everything the right way, before we get him on the floor. So if that’s him being pissed off at us because we protected him, then so be it.”
Since the start of training camp, Leonard has focused on strengthening his surgically repaired right knee while remaining out of team drills. He also said his focus is to be healthy at the end of the season and into the playoffs. Leonard has not finished a season healthy since his initial 2019-20 campaign with the Clippers.
“As I get older, guys aren’t doing what I’m doing, pretty much,” Leonard said during halftime of the Clippers’ first preseason game. “This is what I work for. I strive to get a championship. I’m not out there to try to play 82 games. I’m trying to win. Even though that’s obligated from me, I’ve tried to. And it hasn’t worked out. So we’ll see.”
Leonard has a history of false starts since tearing his right ACL in the second round of the 2021 playoffs. After missing the entire 2021-22 season, he fully participated in the ensuing training camp, played in multiple preseason games and urged the coaching staff to use him off the bench to open the 2022-23 regular season.
Within two weeks, Leonard experienced a setback in his knee and missed 25 days of action before returning. He was largely able to stay on the floor thereafter until tearing his right meniscus during the team’s first-round series against the Phoenix Suns.
Last season, Leonard played 68 of the first 74 games, but missed the last eight regular-season games and the team’s first playoff game due to right knee inflammation. He returned for Games 2 and 3 before suffering a setback and sitting out the final three games of the Clippers’ first-round series loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
Clippers players continue to say they are not concerned about an extended absence for Leonard and expect him to be ready at some point. The team has spent training camp and preseason preparing to play without their star.
“He just needs to take his time, you know,” James Harden said recently. “I think we need Kawhi later in the year and healthy.”
The Clippers still expect Leonard to be available for a reasonable number of games once he can practice and ramp up his activity.
But Leonard’s absence to begin the regular season is another sign the team is committed to making sure he stays on the floor for good once he returns instead of coming back to open a new building, only to suffer another setback.
“It’s always a build-up to playing in a game,” Leonard said in Honolulu. “Especially in the position that I’m in.”
(Photo: Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images)
