REPORT: LA Clippers frequently addressed Kawhi Leonard’s Health

The state of Kawhi Leonard’s injuries has drawn attention.

Kawhi Leonard hasn’t been healthy for the NBA Playoffs for the fourth year running. For the fourth consecutive year, the Clippers have underperformed in the NBA Playoffs as a result. There’s always a sense of doubt about whether Leonard will play, and this year was no exception.

The Clippers’ President of Basketball Operations, Lawrence Frank, provided some clarification regarding Leonard’s injury now that the season is officially finished. It turns out that in the second round, Kawhi Leonard would not have even been eligible to participate in the first game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Look, Kawhi wouldn’t be able to play if we had a game today,” stated Lawrence Frank in a post-game interview. “He would not be present. We continue to address the inflammation. The hopeful thing, as I’ve mentioned twice now, is that this appears to be a minor issue that isn’t structural in nature. In all likelihood, we will keep attempting to figure out how to take care of his right knee. Despite having two knee surgeries, he has demonstrated his durability.”

The Clippers have tried every single avenue when it comes to Kawhi Leonard. They’ve tried load managing him, they’ve tried respecting the regular season and having him play a full amount of games, but it just doesn’t seem to matter. This season, more than any other, it feels like the team was the most unlucky with Leonard’s health.

“The unfortunate, just call it unlucky, is here’s a guy who played 68 games during that stretch where we went 26 and 5,” Lawrence Frank said. “He showed that he’s that guy still, he’s one of the top players in this league. He’s a great player, he’s a ceiling raiser. As you guys know, why great players are so hard to get in this league, they have an overweighted ability to impact the game.”

Lawrence Frank is aware that the Clippers still need to work on improving their margins, even though the team hopes to run it back with their core-three lineup next season. But no matter how good the Clippers get, without Kawhi Leonard they will not be able to compete in the postseason.