Los Angeles Clippers fans found out recently that Kawhi Leonard may have to miss time on the court in the near future due to his recent ankle roll. With this revelation, many are coming to an-all-too familiar realization: that this team may very well be operating without their best player once again.
Unfortunately, it's same story, different day for Kawhi and the Clippers. Leonard played in each of LA's first six games to begin this season, but that streak of health may be taking a pause soon. Ironically, this past offseason was one where he was not really nursing any major injuries, and appeared to be heading into the new campaign with a clean bill of health and ready to be at the top of his game.
So the hope was that the Clippers' best player would be beginning 2025-26 in excellent shape, with his body feeling good and hungry to take LA to the mountaintop. Of course, what Kawhi is dealing with right now is likely only a mild ankle issue. However, it's far from encouraging for those who have been fans of this organization over the last half decade.
Kawhi on Friday: No restrictions on playing a back-to-back
— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) November 4, 2025
Kawhi on Monday: Revealed he twisted his ankle, and is now saying "we'll see."
Leonard is already dealing with an injury
The first season of Leonard's tenure in Los Angeles ended in disappointment in the bubble, where the Clippers went up three games to one but couldn't seal the series victory against the Denver Nuggets. At that time, the prevailing thought was that although the result was disappointing, it wasn't earth-shattering, because the Clippers would no doubt be back in full force.
But sadly, the resulting seasons since then have largely been plagued by debilitating injuries to Leonard, and have resulted in him missing extensive time in multiple years. The Clippers were of course once again on fire in the 2021 postseason, until Kawhi's ACL injury ultimately led to their undoing. That same injury kept him out for all of the 2021-22 season.
The following year, Leonard returned and was catching fire in the 2023 playoffs until the injury bug once again reared its ugly head. Then in Paul George's final year in Los Angeles, Kawhi missed the tail end of the first round series with the Dallas Mavericks, along with the first couple of months of the season after that.
Leonard's injury issues have hung over the head of this team in nearly every offseason since he arrived. In a year where that wasn't as big a concern heading into the regular season campaign, an update like this one is just that much more frustrating. At the end of the day, this is sadly familiar territory for the Clippers and their fanbase.