Everything with the San Antonio Spurs is proceeding as normal, but unfortunately, life without superstar forward Kawhi Leonard has become the new normal. Leonard has played just nine games this season for the Spurs, and there have been all sorts of rumors and speculation surrounding both his absence and his future with the franchise.
For the first time in two decades, the Spurs failed to reach 50 wins this season, and up until last week, there was some danger that they might break another 20-year streak and fail to qualify for the playoffs.
With that hurdle now behind them, they can set their eyes on the immediate future, which entails a first-round matchup against the defending champion Golden State Warriors that tips off on Saturday in Oakland.
And just as everyone suspected, they’ll have to do it without their best player in the lineup, as the team confirmed via their Twitter account on Friday night.
INJURY REPORT: Kawhi Leonard (return from injury management) is out for tomorrow’s Spurs-Warriors game.
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) April 14, 2018
The prevailing feeling is that Leonard won’t return at all this postseason, but his injury concerns are only half of it. It’s been impossible not to read more into his absence, and a rather ambiguous locker room meeting between Leonard and the rest of this team in recent weeks only exacerbated fears of a larger disconnect between Kawhi and the franchise and the prospects of a looming split.
Though the Spurs have rallied around All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, their current roster doesn’t stand much of chance against Golden State, even without Steph Curry. They’ll face an offseason of uncertainty after that, one in which Leonard’s future with the team almost certainly hangs in the balance.
