Kawhi Leonard Underwent Surgery to Clean up Right Knee
The Clippers' star forward missed the final three postseason games due to injury.
LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard underwent surgery back in early June to “clean up” his partially torn right meniscus, according to Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank.
Frank stated that it will be an eight-week recovery from the time of surgery until he can get back out on the court and that Leonard feels “great.”
Leonard suffered the injury in Game 1 of the Clippers’ first-round series against the Phoenix Suns. Leonard ended up playing in Game 2 before having to be held out of the rest of the series due to the injury.
After missing the entirety of the 2021-22 season as a result of surgery to repair a partial tear in his right anterior cruciate ligament, Leonard came back to average 23.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.4 steals in 52 games for the Clippers this past season. Leonard was a model of remarkable efficiency, shooting 51.2 percent from the field, 41.6 percent on threes, and 87.1 percent from the line.
Leonard joined Kevin Durant as the only two players to average at least 20 points on 50-40-85 shooting in the NBA this season.
Prior to his injury in the postseason, Leonard put up 38 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in a Game 1 victory, and then posted 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists in Game 2 while dealing with the partially torn right meniscus.
For Leonard, it was another in a long line of lower body injuries that have started to mount up for the superstar.
While Leonard looked ready for the season coming out of training camp, the star forward had to miss a month of action early on to further strengthen the structural stability of his right knee, including undergoing a procedure to help speed up the recovery process.
After returning in mid-November, Leonard wasn’t forced to miss any more time due to the knee. While he wasn’t cleared to play both games of a back-to-back for the majority of the season, Leonard did finish the campaign playing the team’s final two sets as the Clippers nabbed the 5-seed in the Western Conference.
Over his final 34 appearances in the regular season, Leonard averaged 27.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.6 steals on a 65.3 True Shooting Percentage, only missing six of the team’s 40 games during that span.
As a result of his great season and comeback, Leonard earned seven votes as a forward for All-NBA honors — four Second-Team, three Third-Team.
This will mark the third consecutive summer in which Leonard will have to deal with a recovery process for an injury to his right knee.
Leonard is expected to be ready for the opening of training camp for the upcoming 2023-24 season.