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Kris Rhim, ESPN
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — LA Clippers president Lawrence Frank said Tuesday that the swelling in Kawhi Leonard‘s inflamed right knee had decreased “significantly” but that the team plans to hold him out of drills during training camp. Frank was also noncommittal about Leonard being ready for the regular season.
“I think that the timing’s all going to basically depend on how his knee responds to each phase,” Frank said, “so no one has a crystal ball.”
Clippers coach Ty Lue said that there isn’t a plan yet to implement Kawhi into any practices and that they would rely on the team medical staff’s guidance. The plan, Frank said, is to have Kawhi work on strength training for his knee before returning.
“The goal is to get him 100 percent so he can have a great season, not just this year, but for many years,” Frank said.
He continued: “We’re just really going to focus on strengthening and loading. I think we learned some lessons. Just if you think about it, he desperately wanted to come back and play in that Dallas series, and within a game and a half, the inflammation came where it wasn’t manageable, so we don’t want to put ourselves in that position.”
Leonard’s right knee has been an issue since the end of last season. Leonard missed the final eight games of the regular season with inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee. He returned to the playoffs to play in Games 2 and 3 against the Dallas Mavericks before missing the remaining three games of the Clippers’ first-round loss.
After an entire summer, Leonard is still experiencing some inflammation. When he was held out during the postseason, Leonard said he was trying to get the inflammation down as much as possible, but it was troublesome and unpredictable. Leonard, who was originally selected to be a part of this summer’s Olympic basketball team, was replaced by Celtics forward Derrick White during training camp, though Frank said it wasn’t because of a setback with his knee.
“I know what it’s like to want to do something and your body’s just not right,” Team USA executive director Grant Hill said in July. “And I’ve lived that personally. And so I applaud him for coming here and being willing to sacrifice, give up his summer and represent our country and play for our program. … Ultimately, it didn’t work out.”
When Lue, an assistant coach on Team USA, was asked about the decision not to keep Leonard on the team, he said, “I can’t remember,” with a smile.