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After nearly half a season missed, Kawhi Leonard is reportedly set to make his season debut Saturday.
The six-time All-Star and two-time NBA Finals MVP is expected to play in the Los Angeles Clippers’ game against the Atlanta Hawks, according to veteran NBA reporter Chris Haynes and The Athletic’s Law Murray. Officially, Leonard’s status has been upgraded from out to questionable with right knee injury recovery.
Leonard previously posted a video on X last week hinting a return was near.
“There’s been good days. There’s been bad days. But I keep coming back,” Leonard said as he fished in the video. “It’s the nature of the game.”
Leonard hasn’t been seen on an NBA court since the first round of last season’s NBA playoffs, which he exited with a right knee injury. Information on his progress since then has been vague and sporadic.
Will Kawhi Leonard’s injury woes wreck another Clippers season?
Leonard was healthy enough to train with the U.S. men’s national team ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics Paris, but withdrew from the team during camp and later underwent a knee procedure during the offseason.
He initially said he planned to play in the Clippers’ season opener, then was ruled out indefinitely with right knee inflammation. He finally returned to practice in mid-December and is now apparently ready for a return.
Of course, the operative question with Leonard at this point and likely for the rest of his career is how long he will be able to stay on the court, and if any of the games he plays will be of the playoff variety.
The Clippers have had Leonard on their roster for six seasons and have received a total of 257 games from him, 28 of them in the postseason. Various knee issues have caused him to miss the endings of four straight seasons for a team that bet everything on him leading them to a championship.
Without Leonard and with Paul George now a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Clippers have so far held their own with a 19-15 record, currently good for seventh in the Western Conference.
James Harden (21.8 points, 7.8 assists per game) and Norman Powell (23.9 points per game) have shouldered the main offensive load in Leonard’s absence, but the NBA is set to get its first look at what the team is supposed to be this weekend.
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