With the Los Angeles Clippers officially eliminated from the playoffs following a 136-130 loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 5 on Tuesday night, more information about Kawhi Leonard's knee injury has come to light. The All-Star forward suffered a meniscus tear in his right knee during the series against the Suns, the team confirmed Thursday. Clippers president Lawrence Frank said the Clippers learned about the injury following a Game 2 loss.
Leonard had missed the last three games of L.A.'s first-round series with what the Clippers classified as a right knee sprain. However, with the Clippers' season over, it's now been revealed that the injury was more serious.
This is just brutal news for Leonard, who also suffered a torn ACL in the same knee in the 2021 playoffs. The right knee has been a constant source of injuries for the two-time NBA champion, and it's derailed any sense of consistency since he's joined the Clippers.
The timeline for Leonard's return is unclear at this time, and will likely depend on if he has surgery to repair the meniscus or not. During a press conference with media members on Thursday, Frank said that it hasn't been determined if Leonard will get surgery as the team is still exploring possibilities of his treatment.
While no injury is ideal, it occurring now, in April, gives him a significant amount of time to recover before the start of the 2023-24 season. Given Leonard's lengthy injury history this latest one will also likely increase the possibility of him continuing to be on a load management schedule for next season. Since his time with the Raptors, Leonard has rarely played in back-to-back games. In fact, he participated in his first back-to-back games in early April for the first time since April 2021.
Injuries have plagued the Clippers since the team signed both Leonard and Paul George back in the summer of 2019. Despite tons of regular season success since that time, injuries to one or both of them have hindered L.A.'s ability to contend for a championship. George missed all of this postseason with a sprained knee, and prior to that the last time these two played together for a full postseason was during the 2020 playoff bubble where the Clippers lost in the second round to the Denver Nuggets.
With minimal postseason success since the Leonard-George pairing, next season becomes increasingly important for the Clippers. The 2023-24 season is the final year for both George and Leonard before they can opt-out of their player options for the 2024-25 season. It puts a very real timeline on L.A.'s championship window, and if this team doesn't succeed next year, it raises tons of questions for Leonard and George as well as the Clippers going forward.
