The Los Angeles Clippers will begin their season without Kawhi Leonard. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Leonard has inflammation in his right knee and is expected to be sidelined to start the NBA season. He’ll be out an indefinite period of time as he rehabilitates the injury.
Leonard has been struggling with a right knee issues for months. He missed a handful of games at the end of last season, as well as four of the Clippers’ six playoff games. He had committed to playing on Team USA over the summer, but withdrew about three weeks shy of the Paris Olympics.
The swelling in Leonard’s knee was “almost gone” by late September, but the origin of the swelling was called into question when Charania reported that Leonard had undergone a knee procedure during the offseason. He didn’t play in any preseason games, and now there’s no timeframe for when he’ll be back to full strength for the Clippers.
Leonard has struggled with knee issues over the last few years, all of which seem to have started when he partially tore the ACL in his right knee during the Clippers’ 2021 playoff run. He missed the entire 2021-22 season while recovering. Then he tore the meniscus in his right knee during the 2022-23 playoffs, and injured his right knee again during the playoffs last year.
