Los Angeles Clippers’ star forward, Kawhi Leonard, will be missing Game 4 of their first-round series against the Phoenix Suns, once again due to a knee sprain he suffered in Game 1 (CBS Sports). According to Clippers’ head coach Ty Lue, Kawhi’s injury is “very deflating,” and he also missed Game 3 because of it (ESPN and The Athletic).
Kawhi has been dealing with numerous injuries throughout his career, including a right knee sprain in the current NBA playoffs (Sporting News). However, the Clippers seem to be less worried about Kawhi’s current injury compared to his injury in the 2021 playoffs, where he also missed multiple games (HoopsHype).
Kawhi’s absence from Game 3 led to a questionable interaction with Suns’ point guard, Chris Paul, after Phoenix evened the series 1-1 (Sports Illustrated). Nevertheless, Kawhi’s impact for the Clippers cannot be denied as he played through pain in Game 2 after injuring his knee in Game 1 (Sports Illustrated and Bleacher Report).
Adding to his injury history timeline, Kawhi has missed notable games and played through pain during important moments such as Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2019 (Sporting News).
With possibly only one game left for the Clippers to advance to the second round, fans and the team hope that Kawhi will soon recover from his injury and help lead the team to success (USA Today).
