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It’s been almost 500 days since Kawhi Leonard played in an NBA game, but it appears he is on schedule to make his return at the start of the upcoming season.
Clippers president Lawrence Frank told reporters Leonard “feels great” and is cleared to play five-on-five in practice, per Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times.
Leonard partially tore his ACL during the 2021 playoffs and missed the rest of the postseason. He didn’t play the entire 2021–22 regular season after he underwent surgery. As a result, Los Angeles finished this past season 42–40 and missed the playoffs. Paul George only played in 31 games last year due to injury as well.
When healthy, Leonard is viewed as one of the best players in the NBA, especially defensively. He’s a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, a five-time All-Star and a two-time Finals MVP. With both he and George returning to the Clippers lineup, they should be a force in the Western Conference yet again.
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