INGLEWOOD, Calif. — LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will play his first game of the 2024-25 season Saturday night against the Atlanta Hawks, coach Tyronn Lue confirmed in his pregame news conference. Leonard will be on a minutes restriction.
The two-time NBA Finals MVP and six-time All-Star has missed the first 34 games of the season to strengthen his surgically repaired right knee. Last week, The Athletic reported that Leonard was targeting Saturday’s home game against the Hawks for his first game. On Saturday, Leonard released another teaser of his return.
Leonard last played a regular-season game on March 31, on the road against the Charlotte Hornets, and has not suited up since Game 3 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks on April 26. Though he is on a minute restriction, but the Clippers, who entered Saturday 19-15 and in seventh place in the West, believe Leonard will not need much easing in. He gives the Clippers offense a midrange operator capable of making good decisions while also being able to defend. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year’s return will mark his first game in the Clippers’ new home, Intuit Dome.
The inflammation that Leonard dealt with last April ruined an All-Star season in which he played 68 regular-season games and was named to the All-NBA Second Team. He underwent a procedure on his right knee in May to address the inflammation; it was the fourth year in a row that Leonard failed to complete a postseason. Even though Leonard recovered in time to participate in training camp for Team USA in July, he was withdrawn from the team before the Americans’ exhibition schedule.
Kawhi Leonard’s multi-week NBA absences
|
Leonard’s team
|
Date of return
|
Team played
|
Length of absence
|
Injury
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
San Antonio Spurs |
Dec. 21, 2012 |
vs. Charlotte Hornets |
36 days (18 games) |
right knee tendinitis |
|
San Antonio Spurs |
Feb. 26, 2014 |
vs. Detroit Pistons |
35 days (14 games) |
broken right hand |
|
San Antonio Spurs |
Jan. 16, 2015 |
vs. Portland Trail Blazers |
32 days (15 games) |
torn ligament in right hand |
|
San Antonio Spurs |
Feb. 24, 2016 |
at Sacramento Kings |
10 days (three games) |
left calf tightness |
|
San Antonio Spurs |
Dec. 12, 2017 |
at Dallas Mavericks |
212 days (30 games) |
left ankle sprain/right quadriceps |
|
Toronto Raptors |
Oct. 17, 2018 |
vs. Cleveland Cavaliers |
277 days (43 games) |
right quadriceps tendinopathy |
|
LA Clippers |
May 1, 2021 |
vs. Denver Nuggets |
13 days (five games) |
right foot soreness |
|
LA Clippers |
Oct. 20, 2022 |
at Los Angeles Lakers |
493 days (92 games) |
right knee ACL surgery |
|
LA Clippers |
Nov. 17, 2022 |
vs. Detroit Pistons |
25 days (12 games) |
right knee stiffness |
|
LA Clippers |
Dec. 5, 2022 |
at Hornets |
14 days (six games) |
sprained right ankle |
|
LA Clippers |
Oct. 25, 2023 |
vs. Trail Blazers |
190 days (three playoff games) |
torn right knee meniscus |
|
LA Clippers |
Jan. 1, 2024 |
vs. Miami Heat |
12 days (four games) |
left hip contusion |
|
LA Clippers |
April 23, 2024 |
vs. Mavericks, Game 2 |
23 days (nine games) |
right knee inflammation |
|
LA Clippers |
Jan. 4, 2025 |
vs. Atlanta Hawks |
253 days (37 games) |
right knee inflammation |
The Clippers held Leonard out of training camp, declaring him month-to-month even though the team suggested Leonard’s swelling in his right knee was “almost gone.” Leonard, who is in the first year of a three-year contract extension signed last January, had a goal of playing in the Clippers’ season opener Oct. 23 against the Phoenix Suns but acknowledged that he needed a “ramp-up” period before playing in games.
Leonard did not return to practice until Dec. 10, after the Clippers survived a November schedule in which they were the only team in the league to play every game on no more than one day of rest. Leonard took full contact for the first time on Dec. 18, then traveled with the Clippers to Dallas for a two-game miniseries, where he practiced in between game days. Leonard did not travel with the team to New Orleans, San Antonio and Oklahoma City, instead participating in two practices with the G League’s San Diego Clippers.
His latest comeback marks the 14th time Leonard is returning from an injury absence of at least 10 days since being selected 15th in the 2011 NBA Draft out of San Diego State. His frequent absences and returns are something he alluded to a week before his return.
“There’s been good days, there’s been bad days,” Leonard said via video on Dec. 27. “But I keep coming back.”
The Clippers also will have forward Terance Mann on Saturday after he missed 11 games after surgery to repair a fractured finger on his left hand. Point guard James Harden also will be back after missing LA’s road loss Thursday against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to groin soreness.
(Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
