During Thursday night’s TNT broadcast of the Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns, NBA Insider Chris B. Haynes had an exciting report for Clippers Nation. It seems that Kawhi Leonard’s rehabilitation on his surgically repaired knee is progressing better than expected, and there is a strong chance that he could return at some point this season.
Sources: My @NBAonTNT report on Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard now ahead of schedule in rehab from a torn ACL with a strong possibility of a return this season. pic.twitter.com/geyUX5Rgkv
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 7, 2022
The news couldn’t come at a better time for Los Angeles, who is already missing Paul George for a few weeks with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his shooting elbow diagnosed in December. The Clippers are currently the eighth seed in the Westen Conference with a 19-20 record.
Leonard injured his ACL during the Western Conference semifinals series against the Utah Jazz. The Clippers called the injury a knee sprain during the team’s final eight playoff games before announcing the injury was more severe than initially thought and needed surgery.
Clippers executive Jerry West was on the TK Podcast with The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami, beaming about the two-time Finals MVP.
“I have to say, I’ve never seen a harder working person in my life. If you look at him now, he looks great. Doing things that I didn’t expect he could do. But I’m not a doctor, and certainly don’t know what the ongoing problems for not being in tip-top shape, ready to play a much quicker and agile game are, but just watching him, my goodness, if you watch him walk around, you would never know that he had that operation.”
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year averaged 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.6 steals last season.
