The 2024-25 season will be Kawhi Leonard’s 13th year in the NBA and his fifth with the Clippers. When healthy, Leonard is one of the most dominant two-way players in the league. However, staying healthy has been a constant battle throughout his career.
Earlier this week, NBA insider Shams Charania announced that Leonard had a procedure done on his knee this offseason. The Clippers also announced that their all-star forward will be limited to start training camp. Leonard is working to strengthen his knee to be ready for the 2024-25 season. Not ideal for the Clippers who lost one of their star players this offseason. Paul George signed with the 76ers. Without, Leonard, the Clippers are lacking the star talent they’ve had in the past.
LA desperately needs Kawhi Leonard for the start of the 2024 season
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard underwent a procedure on his knee in the offseason, sources tell me and @LawMurrayTheNU. The franchise said today Leonard will be limited to strengthening his knee to start Clippers training camp, but team officials are optimistic about his progress. pic.twitter.com/VtCvlBEhPf
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 25, 2024
Kawhi Leonard has been with the LA Clippers for five seasons and he’s played in four of them. The six-time all-star missed the entire 2021-22 season with an ACL injury. In his four healthy seasons with the Clippers, Leonard has played in over 60+ games just once. That happened last season when he played in 68 games for LA. This summer Leonard was picked to play for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics. However, he was dealing with a knee injury and was replaced with Boston’s Derrick White.
The reports said that Leonard was dealing with “knee swelling/inflammation” last season and that carried into the Olympics. That is why the 33-year-old had to have a procedure done on his knee this offseason. While the team would not give a timeline on when Leonard will be healthy, other sources weighed in. Dr. Evan Jeffries went on X and said it could take 4-8 weeks for Leonard’s knee to no longer have any swelling. If it takes up to eight weeks, Leonard would miss the start of the 2024-25 season. Their first game of the season is Wednesday, October 23, vs. the Phoenix Suns.
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