‘
After finishing third in NBA MVP voting last season, there were high expectations for Spurs star Kawhi Leonard coming into the 2017-18 season.
However, a lingering quad injury forced him to miss the first two months of the season, as he made his debut on Dec. 12 against the Mavs. Leonard appeared in nine games total for the Spurs in December and January, appearing to be rounding into form before he abruptly left the lineup again. He last played on Jan. 13, scoring 19 points with eight rebounds, four assists and four steals before returning to the inactive list as his quad injury continued to bother him.
We’ve gotten little in the way of update regarding Leonard’s status since then, but in the Spurs’ first practice since the All-Star break coach Gregg Popovich offered some less than optimistic information into his superstar’s health, noting he doesn’t expect Leonard to be back this season.
Here is the Popovich comments on Kawhi. Not ready to say he’s out for the season…just would be surprised. So, there’s that … pic.twitter.com/C22ntHgbOY
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) February 21, 2018
“I’ll be surprised if he returns this season,” Popovich said. “Well, we only have X number of games left in the season and he’s still not ready to go. If by some chance he is it’s going to be pretty late into the season and it’ll be a tough decision how late you bring somebody back. That’s why I’m trying to be honest and logical. I’ll be surprised if he gets back this year.”
The Spurs have managed a 35-24 record this season despite being without Leonard for all but nine games and currently hold down the third seed in the West. The problem is, they’re much closer to the ninth seed than they are the second seed, as they’re only 3.5 games up on the Clippers at present. Holding on to their playoff position without Leonard returning this season would be quite the achievement for the Spurs, and while Pop is as good as there is in the NBA, it’s hard not to envision this team slipping down the standings by the time the playoffs arrive.
San Antonio has been a model franchise in so many ways over the years, but the handling of Leonard’s injury has been almost as bizarre as that of Markelle Fultz in Philadelphia, which has garnered much more discussion and criticism. Leonard is a top-5 player in the NBA when healthy and his absence has remained a mystery and a relatively under covered story in the league this season. Hopefully the star forward can make a full recovery for next season, but optimism as it relates to his health seems low in San Antonio right now.
