Kawhi Leonard‘s absence in the latter half of the NBA Western Conference Finals was gravely felt, seemingly costing the Los Angeles Clippers a chance at a championship title.
The injury was initially labeled as a sprain to his right knee, giving Clippers fans a bit of optimism that the star player would be able to bounce back next season. However, the recent news regarding Leonard’s surgery to repair a partially torn ACL. There is currently no news regarding whether or not The Klaw will make an appearance next season.
Reporter, Shams Charania took to Twitter to reveal the news. Dr. Rajpal Brar gave his two cents on the injury anticipating that Leonard would require “around 9 months to get back to court and even longer to return to preinjury levels.”
ESPN reported that Leonard has a player option in his contract that he may choose to opt in for $36 million USD for the 2021-22 season. Last year, the star player said, “Obviously, if I’m healthy, the best decision is to decline the player option. But that doesn’t mean I’m leaving or staying. I’m focused on the season, like I said. We’ll talk about that when the time is right.”
It remains to be seen if Kawhi Leonard will return to the court next season post-injury.
Typically surgery to repair a partially torn ACL is a full reconstruction, the same surgery as for a complete rupture (grade 3 tear). Looking at around 9 months to get back to the court and even longer to return to preinjury levels.
— Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT (@3cbPerformance) July 14, 2021
In other sports news, LeBron James recently confirmed that he wants to retire with the Los Angeles Lakers.
