What happened to Kawhi Leonard? Latest injury update as Clippers forward not cleared to play (Dec. 29)

The LA Clippers missed the services of All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard for a fourth straight time after he was ruled out on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies because of a hip injury he had played through previously. Coach Tye Lue confirmed the development by way of Clippers beat writer Tom Azarly.

Lue said that Leonard suffered the left hip contusion in the game against the Utah Jazz on Dec. 8 and aggravated it against the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 20. Azarly quoted the former NBA player-turned-coach as saying on X:

“He’s (Leonard) getting better. He’s just not cleared to play right now.”

Against the Mavericks, Kawhi Leonard played 37 minutes and finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a 120-111 win.

The Clippers have gone 1-2 since their leading scorer sat out with the hip injury. Apart from top-scoring for the team with 24.4 points per contest, ‘The Klaw’ has also had 5.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 34.5 minutes of play.

Against the Grizzlies at home, the Clippers are looking to make it back-to-back victories after losing two on the trot. Heading into the contest, the team was fourth in the Western Conference with an 18-12 record.

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Kawhi Leonard wants to play as many games as he can

Two-time NBA champion Kawhi Leonard has had a myriad of injuries throughout his career, which led him to miss a considerable amount of games. This season, though, he has vowed to play as many games as possible as long as he's fit and able.

The LA Clippers superstar forward, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times before training camp in October, reacted to the new league policy on ‘load management’ where certain criteria have been set for players to sit out games.

Leonard said:

“I’m not a guy that’s sitting down because I’m doing load management. Well, when I was with the Raptors, it was different. Like, I was coming off an injury. And you have to know the details from the doctor.”

“But if the league is seeing or trying to mock what I did with the Raptors it should stop because I was injured during that whole year. But other than that if I’m able to play, I’ll play basketball. I work out every day in the summertime to play the game not to sit and watch people play. So no league policy is helping me to play more games.”

Kawhi Leonard is out for the Clippers (18-12) due to a hip injury, having played 27 of 30 games this season.