The wait is over for one of the most impactful players in the NBA on both ends of the court.
LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard is scheduled to make his season debut Saturday night against the Atlanta Hawks, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
After ruling him out on Friday afternoon, the team adjusted their injury report three hours later to upgrade Leonard’s status to “questionable,” common protocol for the Clippers when a player is on the verge of returning.
Missing the first 10 weeks of this NBA campaign, Leonard has battled right knee inflammation for the better part of a year. It first became an issue last April when swelling in his knee caused him to miss the Clippers’ final eight games of the regular season.
When he attempted to come back and make an impact in the first round of the playoffs, the organization’s medical staff realized he wasn’t physically ready to perform at such a level. They held him out of the series after two lackluster performances to save him from himself.
Two months later, Leonard reported to Team USA’s training camp in Las Vegas, which became a short-lived venture after Grant Hill and Team USA officials sent him home over concerns about his knee inflammation.
Those practices and scrimmages in Las Vegas were the last we’ve seen of Leonard on the court. He’s been out of action for 253 days, rehabbing his knee and taking the proper precautions to prevent further damage over the grueling NBA schedule.
After dealing with perhaps the worst injury luck of any recent All-Star, Leonard appears healthy and ready to test out his knee at game speed.
Patience was always going to be the route for the Clippers, who are due for some good fortune after years of ill-timed injuries and playoff absences from their franchise cornerstones. With Leonard now in his age-33 season and James Harden under contract for one more year (2025-26), there may not be many opportunities left to compete for titles.
That’s why the rehab process couldn’t be expedited. Both Leonard and the training staff had to be smart about it.
And the process is still ongoing — his return to the floor certainly isn’t a guarantee that other issues won’t arise. The Clippers will continue monitoring his knee daily, seeing how it responds as the workload increases, and focus on the long-term approach rather than jeopardizing the final years of his prime.
For the team, this only gives them a massive boost in shot creation and defensive IQ. Leonard will slide right into the gritty lineups head coach Ty Lue has leaned on this season. Almost halfway through the 82-game grind, LA is a quality team flooded with guys that have chips on the shoulder.
Just as Clippers owner Steve Ballmer told me three months ago, they were prepared to surprise doubters and blow up any preseason predictions:
He practically hit the nail on the head. Without the internal expectations after losing Paul George, there has been more joy and intrigue around this Clippers season. Even they didn’t know what it would look like, but now, everyone in the building is enjoying the ride.
Despite the Clippers having their highest-paid player on the sideline for 34 games, they are still four games above .500 and tied in the loss column with the Dallas Mavericks. Their supercharged defense, currently the fourth-stingiest in terms of halfcourt production, will now add one of the wisest perimeter defenders of the last decade when Leonard returns.
You can almost guarantee there will be a minutes restriction for him to follow early on, but even then, the Clippers will notice improvements across the board.
With 99% of the national coverage painting Leonard in a negative light because of his injury history (an unfair and inhumane stance), there simply isn’t enough discussion about how productive he is when healthy. Somehow, last year flew under the radar when it was mightily impressive — even by his standards.
He appeared in 68 games last season before his knee swelled up, the most since 2017 in San Antonio when he finished third in MVP voting. Averaging just shy of 25 points and four assists per 36 minutes, Leonard reminded viewers why he’s still a force. It was his most efficient year, shooting 56.9% from two and 41.7% on threes, culminating in an All-NBA Second Team recognition.
Leonard’s impact was undeniable for the Clippers as they grabbed a homecourt seed in last year’s playoffs. They outscored opponents by 8.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor in those 68 games, compared to the -3.7 net rating during his minutes on the bench.
Now, he’ll be joining a group that’s already been injected with more athleticism and youth compared to previous iterations of the roster.
Fans should still temper their expectations, however, considering the training staff will likely be conservative with how many games he plays each week. With the NBA schedule being so cramped, it’s challenging for any player to return from a long absence and immediately be themselves again.
It will take time, and the Clippers understand that.
Saturday will also be Leonard’s first game playing in the franchise’s new basketball mecca, the Intuit Dome, where the Clippers are 11-6 this season and embracing the new state-of-the-art training facilities and technology.
Leonard, who has two years and $100.3 million remaining on his contract after this season, is just ready to start fresh and leave the major injuries behind him.