Kawhi Leonard Update Is Very Troubling For Clippers

After missing all of last season recovering from knee surgery, Kawhi Leonard played in two of the Los Angeles Clippers' first three games. Since then, he's missed the last seven games, and now his head coach has indicated that he's out indefinitely.

"There's really not a time frame of when he is going to be back," Clippers coach Ty Lue said. "The biggest thing is just the testing that he has to go through with the medical and the slow progression of just getting better every single day. And so we're just taking it day by day right now, not really a timetable."

This has to be troubling for the Clippers, who have invested so much in Kawhi, only to receive so little. He suffered a partial tear of the ACL in his right knee in the 2021 playoffs and seemed to be ready coming into this season after a year off, but just two games in, he's back on the shelf for an indefinite period. 

The Kawhi Leonard story is very strange and receiving almost no attention. Shows how far not being known for being a media presence goes.

— Robin Lundberg (@robinlundberg) November 7, 2022 

Kawhi signing that 4 year deal instead of signing the 1+1 to wait on the supermax makes sense now.

— Ahmed/The Ears 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) November 7, 2022

Leonard was signed to 4-year, $176M deal before last season, and thus far, has played two games. 

Despite the gloomy update, Lue insists that progress is being made on his knee. "He is progressing well. We knew coming off an ACL, it wasn't going to be a straight line. We talked about it before the season. The biggest thing is he's progressing well. We are going to follow the lead of our medical staff, we got to be smart about the situation, but he is progressing."

Despite what Lue says outwardly, there are reports that the Clippers are more concerned than they're letting on. 

Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports