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Kawhi Leonard Suffers Major Health Setback Ahead Of Clippers’ Playoff Run

Kawhi Leonard Suffers Major Health Setback Ahead Of Clippers’ Playoff Run

The Los Angeles Clippers will meet the Dallas Mavericks in the opening round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

As things presently stand, Luka Doncic and Co. may be the hottest team in the league right now.

The Clippers will need all hands on deck to beat Dallas, but at the moment, serious questions surround Kawhi Leonard’s availability.

There has been a lot of suspicious behavior surrounding Leonard’s health over the past few weeks, and the mystery surrounding just how he is doing is more intense than ever.

This week, Lawrence Frank spoke to reporters and admitted that Leonard had suffered something of a health setback.

“With Kawhi, he’s dealing with inflammation,” Frank said. “It’s no secret he’s had a couple of surgeries to that knee.

“It’s not uncommon over the course of it where you deal with inflammation. With inflammation, it limits your ability to make some natural basketball moves, so he’s working his tail off, the staff is working their tail off to try to help with the inflammation.”

Clippers head coach Ty Lue, for his part, is trying to downplay Leonard’s clear injury woes.

“Just day-to-day,” Lue said of Leonard’s recovery. He’s progressing. He’s feeling better.”

The Mavericks are playing very, very scary basketball right now. Paul George is good – but the Clippers will need a healthy Leonard in order to have a shot against Dallas.

Leonard is coming off his busiest and most active regular season NBA campaign in a long time. He played in 68 total games and averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per outing.

Unfortunately, none of that means anything if he can’t guide the Clippers on a deep playoff run.

Will Leonard be back in time to help the Clippers beat the Mavericks in the first round? Time will tell.

Related: Grayson Allen’s Wife Morgan Reid Reacts To Suns’ Playoff Matchup

Charles Kruger

Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7's go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
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