Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) warms up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.image captionClippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) warms up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) warms up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has always been a secretive person but he often goes to extreme lengths to protect his privacy. Currently, the Los Angeles Clippers star is out of the lineup recovering from injury but when he arrived on the practice floor Saturday, he made sure to deny them a glimpse into his current condition.
"Kawhi Leonard wanted to start his shooting drills after practice but couldn’t because media were there," wrote Clippers insider Tomer Azarly. "We were told to stop filming and Leonard began his drills after we left."
Kawhi, 33, has yet to make his debut this season as he recovers from a mysterious right knee injury. The 2x champion is said to be aiming for a return before Christmas Day (December 25th) but Clippers coach Tyronne Lue has denied the existence of any timeline for the 6x All-Star.
"He's got to check all the boxes, do all the right things, not skip any steps," said Lue. "When he completes that, then we'll move on. He didn't practice today, he's out.... I don't know [if he'll be ready by Christmas.]"
After the trade for James Harden last season, the Clippers have ambitions of winning the title and even now they have faith in Kawhi's ability to put them over the top. Unfortunately for the Clippers, you never quite know when Kawhi is going to play and he seemingly has no issue leaving everyone in the dark about his recovery progress.
With career averages of 20.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game on 49.9% shooting, Leonard is one of the best two-way players in the game when healthy. The problem is, he's too often not available to play when the Clippers need him most.
The situation with Kawhi has been like this for years now. Since his arrival in Los Angeles in 2019, he's been in and out of the lineup for various reasons and with various injuries. Over the years, as Kawhi has opted to disqualify himself for back-to-back games, his availability has become a major concern for the franchise and experts agree that it's holding the Clippers back.
With Paul George gone, and nothing to show for his Clippers tenure thus far, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Kawhi's time with his current team has been an utter failure so far.
This season, without a single game played, Leonard has been MIA for the Clippers and it's why they're struggling to keep up at 14-10. If/when Kawhi returns this season, it will undoubtedly provide a major boost for the Clippers and it might be enough for them to compete for a top-six spot in the West.
But, as we've seen before, things are different in the playoffs and chemistry matters when you're going against the best teams in the league night after night. In the case of Kawhi Leonard, there's no telling when he plans to return but the Clippers' season very much depends on the speed of his recovery.
Tomorrow, the Clippers host the Houston Rockets for a Western Conference showdown at 9:00 PM EST at Intuit Dome. On Friday, December 13th, the Clippers will face the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena at 9:00 PM EST. The Clippers return home against the Jazz on December 16th at 10:30 PM EST.
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