Kawhi Leonard still out for Clippers with knee injury, no timetable for his return
The Los Angeles Clippers still don’t know when Kawhi Leonard will be back out on the floor.
Leonard missed his seventh game on Sunday night due to soreness in his knee linked to his ACL injury when the Clippers hosted the Utah Jazz. While coach Ty Lue said Leonard has been doing individual work, he’s not sure when Leonard will be able to play.
“He’s feeling pretty good. He’s progressing in the right direction,” Lue said, via The Athletic’s Law Murray. “That’s the most important thing for us … There’s really not a timeframe on when he’s going to be back.”
This original is getting meta but yeah
Here's Tyronn Lue's comments on Kawhi Leonard progressing, being in a good place, but not having a timetable to return beyond "day-to-day" https://t.co/SU3GY1Fetk pic.twitter.com/uvwAPwxLbW— Law Murray 🚭 (@LawMurrayTheNU) November 7, 2022
Leonard has played just two games this season, and has averaged 21 minutes off the bench. He had 11 points and six rebounds in their loss to the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 23, his last game out, but he shot just 2-of-6 from the field.
Leonard, who missed all of last season recovering from an ACL injury, then reported some stiffness in his knee. That’s kept him out ever since for “injury management.”
Though the team struggled initially without him, the Clippers won three straight heading into Sunday night’s game against Utah.
Now, it’s unclear when Leonard will be back on the floor. Lue, at least publicly, isn't providing any sort of timeframe — which, considering what Leonard is coming off of, is fair. There's really no need to risk his long-term health anyways, especially at this point in the season.
While the news may be frustrating, Lue said Leonard is still in good spirits. This setback, he said, wasn’t totally unexpected.
“He’s progressing well,” Lue said. “We knew coming off an ACL, it wasn’t going to be a straight line … We’re just going to follow the lead of our medical staff. We’ve got to be smart about the situation, but he is progressing.”
