Kawhi Leonard officially ruled out for Game 1 of Clippers vs. Mavericks

UPDATE: Kawhi Leonard has officially been ruled out for Game 1 of Clippers vs. Mavericks as the NBA Playoffs begin:

Original story and updates follow below.

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The Los Angeles Clippers will host the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs as the fourth seed in the Western Conference, but it’s not clear if and when Kawhi Leonard will be in uniform to join them as the postseason gets set to begin.

The Clippers star missed the last eight games of the regular season due to what the team is thus far only calling “right knee inflammation,” but was enough of an issue to see him sent home from a road trip after it occurred, and has had very little concrete information provided on it since.

According to ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski, there is now “increasing doubt” that Leonard (who is being listed as questionable) will be able to play in Game 1 on Sunday, April 21.

The updates from the team’s Saturday practice weren’t much more optimistic:

That is a change from the prior whispers on the situation from Friday, which came courtesy of NBA insider Shams Charania, who reported that Leonard had an injection in his knee and that there was “optimism” from the team he will be ready for Game 1 on Sunday.

The only drama? The Clippers were unwilling to confirm such word, on either front, with lead executive Lawrence Frank pushing back to reporters on Thursday:

The previous day, Clippers head coach Tyronn gave his latest update on Leonard, saying that he is preparing as if he will play in Game 1... but that he still isn’t playing 5-on-5 in practice:

After the team’s previous practice on Tuesday, Lue first confirmed that Kawhi has been a partial participant in practice while still declining to provide any sort of formal return timeline (via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN):

“Not fully, but he’s going to be a part of practice,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said before practice on Tuesday. “He’s going to do a quarter of the practice.”

Lue would only say “We’ll see” in regards to whether Leonard will be ready for Game 1 on Sunday.

During the team’s regular season matchup with the Utah Jazz on Friday, April 12, Clippers Frank gave his only previous update on Leonard, and (notably) stopped short of giving any sort of timeline or commitment that his star would be back this season... or postseason:

And this was after Lue’s comments prior to the team’s previous game that raised some eyebrows:

Here is rest of the latest we know about what is going on, and when he could be back:

Kawhi got an MRI

According to Tomer Azarly, who covers the Clippers as a credentialed reporter for Clutch Points, Leonard “underwent a precautionary MRI upon returning to Los Angeles, which did not show anything that would cause the Clippers significant concern.”

Leonard left the team’s road trip after the soreness flared up vs. the Charlotte Hornets on April 1, and went back to Los Angeles for treatment rather than continue on with the team to Sacramento to face the Kings.

Lue was initially hoping Leonard would be back last Thursday, April 4 against the Denver Nuggets... but he has instead missed that game as well, and every game since:

Azarly additionally reported that his sources said Leonard was “not expected to be out long enough to endanger his playoff availability, assuming the Clippers finish with a top-six seed.” However, Law Murray of The Athletic wrote at the same time that “while the Clippers remain unconcerned about his status overall, team sources maintain that they will not rush him back.”

The team is not providing any substantial updates

Besides the above, the Clippers have mostly been mum on any specifics regarding their perpetually mysterious star. Lue would initially not even confirm to the media whether or not Leonard got imaging done on his injured right knee:

The reason for burbling skepticism about Leonard’s availability — and about the Clippers’ updates on it — is that this knee is the same one that Leonard tore his meniscus in during the 2023 NBA Playoffs, which the Clippers initially framed as a day-to-day “right knee sprain” before confirming the much worse injury after the postseason was over.

Leonard also partially tore his ACL in the same right knee during the 2021 NBA playoffs, later undergoing surgery that cost him the entire 2021-22 season.

Leonard is the Clippers’ consensus best player, and their chances of doing much — if anything — in the postseason will hinge on how healthy he can get for the first round, which is why the team’s caginess on this situation bears monitoring.

Will Leonard be back for the 2024 NBA playoffs?

So far, the word is that he will. Azarly reported on Friday, April 5 that Leonard “and the team are going through the rehab process, managing the inflammation in his knee, and they’re hopeful he’ll return sometime next week, in time to play the final two or three games of the regular season.”

But then that return didn’t happen. And given the Clippers’ historic caginess about Leonard's injuries, whether it will at all remains to be seen:

Stay tuned and bookmark this page, as we will be providing live updates as they come on Leonard’s status if and when he returns, whether to ramp up for the regular season, or for the 2024 playoffs.