the goal, Kawhi Leonard said on Monday at the Scissors‘ media day at Intuit Dome, is to play in the team’s regular-season opener against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 23 in Inglewood.
Leonard continues to deal with inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee, leading to some uncertainty about when he will be healthy enough to play, especially after reports of him having procedures on the knee over the summer.
The Clippers’ plan is to limit Leonard’s performance in training camp, which begins Tuesday in Hawaii.
Leonard was asked if he planned to start for the Clippers on opening night.
“Yeah, I mean, that’s the plan,” he said. “I never plan on missing games, but it’s just about my body. I’m human and we’re playing basketball, so it all depends on what we want and what we find out and how my body feels. But right now I think it’s a positive thing to think I’m going to play. But we’re taking it day by day.”
Leonard, 35, missed the final eight regular-season games last season and played in just two games of the first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks because of the knee condition.
Read more: Clippers to limit Kawhi Leonard’s training camp work due to knee
He was sent home from USA basketball practice because of the knee problem.
And Leonard, who played in 68 games last season, still has knee problems.
With the start of his three-year, $152.4 million contract kicking in this season, Leonard was asked if he will have to deal with a knee situation the rest of his career.
“Yeah, I mean, it can be that way,” he said. “But it’s not really… We understood how we got to that point. … There are things we could do to extend my playing time during the season.”
Leonard has a history of knee problems. He suffered a partial anterior cruciate ligament tear in his right knee that sidelined him for the 2021-22 season, a meniscus tear during the 2023 playoffs and now the inflammation.
Still, Leonard pressed forward, leading the media to wonder what motivates him to keep playing when his body continues to break down.
“I could play,” he said. “I mean I played my most games I’ve played in a long time last year, played 68 games. (I) was one of the guys that probably didn’t take a break earlier in the season, but just kept going. Obviously, the last two years I’ve been coming back from ACL and being injured and it’s a progression for me. It was successful for us last year.
“Obviously from a fan or just my own competitive nature, we didn’t reach a goal, but in the grand scheme of things, the way my body did it, it was a good year. I went from zero games (in 21-22) to 52 (in 22 -23) to 68, (last season), so let’s see if I could keep it going from there.”
Leonard will be without his sidekick, Paul George, who left for the 76ers over the summer.
It will mean that James Harden, who signed a two-year, $70 million extension, will have to increase his production for the Clippers to compete.
Harden heard the buzz about the Clippers not being as good as they were last season when they finished fourth in the Western Conference, about how they might not be a top six team this season and might have to struggle to be in the top 10 for a game -in-place.
He doesn’t have it.
“A lot of outsiders or people who are analysts, or whatever you want to call them, really don’t have high expectations for us,” Harden said. “So we have high expectations for ourselves. And me individually. I’ve never missed a playoff in my entire career. So I feel like our whole team, we have a lot to prove for me as a leader. There have been many situations where teams were ‘unquote’ not good enough and we made people believe in us. Do you know what I mean? So I feel like this is another opportunity for that. We have a lot of guys in this locker room that are in that mindset. So, I’m excited for what we have.”
The Clippers added a few new players, but the most controversial was signing guard Kevin Porter Jr. to a two-year deal.
Porter was arrested on September 11, 2023, for allegedly assaulting a female companion at a New York hotel, prompting the Rockets to ban him from team-related activities. The Rockets traded Porter to the Thunder, who waived him. Porter spent last season in Greece.
Porter said Monday that he will accept whatever the NBA gives, but that he is grateful to be back in the league.
“Whatever, I’m responsible for whatever comes,” Porter said. “The league (is) going to do what the league is going to do and I’m ready for it. So, I’ve prepared for this season and nothing else is really going to test that. …For me, I’m just blessed to have this opportunity to come back and do that , which I love and being in LA, you can’t complain about that. So, it’s just really nice.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
