After the Clippers announced five-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard as a late scratch ahead of Game 3 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Suns, they labeled the injury as a “knee sprain” and called him day to day.
On Wednesday morning, hours after the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns eliminated the Clippers in Game 5 of their best-of-seven series, The Athletic’s Shams Charania tweeted that Leonard “has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee.”
He added: “Leonard averaged (34.5) points in first two games of this postseason vs. Suns before the meniscus injury was revealed and he was shut down by medical staff.”
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Leonard averaged 35 points in first two games of this postseason vs. Suns before the meniscus injury was revealed and he was shut down by medical staff.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 26, 2023
Leonard missed all of last season with a torn right anterior cruciate ligament he suffered in the Clippers’ second-round playoff series against Utah in 2021.
In his first season back from that injury, he played in 52 regular-season games and averaged 23.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. In two postseason games in Phoenix, including a Game 1 victory over the favored Suns, Leonard was shooting 54.5% from the field and averaging 6.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and two steals in those games.
The Clippers expressed regret on Leonard’s behalf that he’d been sidelined by an injury without revealing specifics.
“The fact that he got hurt Game 1, tried to play through it Game 2 and people think that he’s out ’cause he doesn’t want to play,” fellow Clippers star Paul George said Tuesday morning before shootaround. “I think it just attacks his character, where people don’t understand. Like, he’ll play through it. It’s got to be a reason why he’s out.”
But the day before, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue hedged Monday when asked if there was any possibility Leonard could play Tuesday in Game 5: “I mean, there’s always a possibility, yes.”
