Since Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich were paired together in 1997, the San Antonio Spurs have been expected to compete for an NBA championship every single season, winning five titles in the process. In fact, the Spurs haven’t missed the playoffs since 1997, as they currently have the longest postseason streak in North American sports.
One major factor to keeping the streak alive has been the development of Kawhi Leonard. The San Diego State product has been one of those draft day prospects that the Spurs organization seemingly turns from a lump of coal to a diamond so big, one would expect DeBeers to sell it. In Leonard’s Spurs tenure, he’s won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award twice and figures to factor in the NBA MVP race for years to come.
However, in Game 1 of last year’s Western Conference Finals, Golden State Warriors’ Center Zaza Pachulia accidentally slid his foot underneath Leonard’s foot mid-jump shot, spraining Leonard’s ankle and sidelining him for the rest of the series. Ankle sprains are notoriously slow to heal on their own, and at some point this summer, Leonard was sidelined with what the Spurs called right quadriceps tendinopathy. The right quad forced Leonard to miss the entire preseason. Based on the footage that surfaced today, he’s clearly still dealing with that.
On Friday, fans and media alike got a small hint that Leonard’s return to the Spurs might be further away than initially believed. Leonard was seen boarding the team charter on the way to Chicago, and the two-time Defensive Player of the Year was noticeably limping up the stairs, clearly in some kind of pain or discomfort.
Kawhi Leonard boarding the #Spurs charter flight for Chicago. #KSATsports #KSATnews pic.twitter.com/Z3lgfQOtMc
— Larry Ramirez (@LRam2) October 20, 2017
Leonard isn’t the only Spur currently missing in action. Tony Parker has yet to return to the lineup since he suffered a left quad tear in the second round of the playoffs last season. Parker is slated to return to the lineup in November.
