San Antonio Spurs Forward Kawhi Leonard to Miss Preseason Due to Thigh Injury
Looks like Kawhi Leonard won't be joining his teammates on the court this preseason.
The San Antonio Spurs have announced that Leonard will sit out the entire preseason due to a lingering issue with his right thigh. There is no timetable yet for his return.
"We're still rehabbing his thigh. And he'll probably miss the beginning of preseason or a good deal of preseason, and we're not going to put a timetable [on a return]. But he's working at it, and we'll get him back as soon as we can," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, via ESPN.
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According to Popovich, the thigh has been bothering Leonard since last season and he has been rehabilitating it during the offseason. He also noted that the thigh injury was unrelated to the left ankle injury Leonard sustained in the playoffs earlier this year.
"No, nothing happened. It's just last year ... working on things from last year. It's gone a little more slowly than we thought. No, [the] ankle's fine," Popovich stated.
It's good to hear that his ankles are fine. The 2014 National Basketball Association (NBA) finals most valuable player originally injured his left ankle in game five of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets. He re-injured it when he landed on Zaza Pachulia's foot in game one of the Western Conference finals against the Golden State Warriors, and he was ruled out of the remainder of the playoffs.
Well, the Spurs are likely just being careful here and they will keep him out of the preseason because they want him on the court when it really matters.
At just 26 years of age, Leonard is already a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner and he has been selected to the All-NBA first team twice. With Tim Duncan retired, the All-Star forward is now the heart and soul of the Spurs, and they need him to be healthy if they want to make some noise in the loaded Western Conference next season.
