The return of Kawhi Leonard was one of the most foreseen events of this season. He completely missed the previous draw, but he had to be 100 percent ready for the start of the current regular season. The managers of Clippers were sure of that. However, these assumptions turned out to be wrong.
Kawhi suffered from a right ACL injury. It happened in the summer 2021 in Game 4 of a second-round playoff series with the Utah Jazz.
He stepped onto the floor for the first time in 476 days in a preseason game against Portland. The player spent only 16 minutes on the court, but even then the Clippers expected that he would be in optimal shape by the start of the regular season. However, this did not happen, and at the beginning of the season, they decided to transfer Kavai to the bench. Since then, he took part in only two meetings, and then again he was out of action. For how long is still unknown.
On October 26, Kawhi missed the game against Oklahoma. In the morning before the game, the striker felt discomfort in his right knee and returned to Los Angeles to undergo rehabilitation. Then he missed the second game with the Thunder, and the meeting with the Pelicans, and two more with Houston. Thus, he will miss at least six matches in a row.
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However, the team expects Leonard to return to the court as soon as possible. According to head coach Tyrone Liu, the basketball player is already feeling better, but he is not in the best mood.
“He is upset. He wants to go to the court, but he can’t, and now he can’t travel with the team either. The doctor said that we should refrain from it now,” Liu said.
Some suggest that it is in the mental state of the player that the whole problem lies. Here’s what expert Chris Broussard had to say about it:
After the game with San Antonio, the club from Los Angeles will have four home meetings in a row: with Utah, Cleveland, Lakers and Brooklyn. It is possible that Leonard will still take part in one of these matches. But he, apparently, is still far from his ideal form. So we won’t see a full-fledged return of Kawhi for some time. Anyway on November 18, the Clippers defeated Detroit at home in a regular season game with a score of 96:91. The 31-year-old American scored 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 25 minutes on the floor.
