San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich told reporters he’d be “surprised” if Kawhi Leonard returns to action this season after battling a quadriceps injury that has lingered all year long.
(Note: This post was originally published in November and was updated with Leonard’s status.)
Popovich is an NBA lifer, but even he has never seen an injury like Leonard’s strained quad tendon. The star forward has missed all but nine games that San Antonio has played so far this season, and there’s still no timetable for his return.
“Never, never,” said Popovich, asked if this injury was similar to anything he’s seen before in a Nov. 23 ESPN story.
Popovich continued: “What's really strange is that [Tony Parker] has the same injury, but even worse. They had to go operate on his quad tendon and put it back together or whatever they did to it. So to have two guys, that's pretty incredible. I had never seen it before those guys.”
Parker rehabbed after the injury in last season’s Western Conference Semifinals and hadn’t played until Nov. 25, but has since returned and is averaging 8.5 points and about four assists per game. He’s been demoted to a bench role behind budding young guard Dejounte Murray, but the Spurs’ biggest issue isn’t at the point guard: It’s on the wings.
San Antonio has fallen to 35-24 this season, now tied with and in danger of falling behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for the fourth seed in the West. The Wolves are only two games ahead of the Thunder, who are only separated by 1.5 games from the ninth seed in the West. In short: The Spurs need Leonard back to be anything close to the team they were last year.
But in a recent ESPN story, the All-Star forward doesn’t appear to be in a rush to return to the court this season. He has been medically cleared to play for some time, but hasn’t convinced himself he’s ready to go yet. Popovich’s coaching will keep this team afloat, but without Leonard — who emerged onto the scene as the league’s premier two-way wing after winning NBA Finals MVP in 2014 — San Antonio’s fate this season appears bleak at best.
It sure isn’t a good sign that Leonard’s injury is so strange and has been talked about in these vague uncertainties.
Here’s a timeline of what Popovich and the Spurs have said about Leonard’s injury. Sept. 30
Leonard’s injury was first revealed at the Spurs’ intrasquad scrimmage in late September.
“We’re still rehabbing his thigh,” Popovich said, “He’ll probably miss the beginning of preseason or a good deal of preseason, and we’re not going to put a timetable (on a return). But he’s working at it, and we’ll get him back as soon as we can.”
Oct. 13
Two weeks later, the Spurs confirmed Leonard would miss the season opener and there was still no timetable on his return.
“I don’t gauge it,” Popovich said. “He’s still rehabbing and when he’s ready, he’ll be ready. I try not to qualify it.”
Oct. 20
Leonard was filmed walking up the stairs of a plane, and he was struggling. The context was Leonard had just come back from a rehab workout, but still. That’s tough to watch. Oct. 21
Popovich offered an incredibly brief update the next day.
"He's progressing," Popovich told reporters. "I'll just leave it at that."
Nov. 7
Popovich seemed to hint Leonard’s slow progress was confusing to him, too.
Pop on Kawhi's slow progress: "He’s just coming along more slowly, for whatever reason. It’s just been more difficult for him to get through the rehab routine. His body hasn’t reacted the same way."
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) November 7, 2017
But Popovich also said Leonard was “going in the right direction.”
Nov. 15
The Spurs finally gave what appeared to be good news about Leonard’s injury last week, saying he would be back “sooner than later.” Of course, Popovich immediately walked back slightly on that quote.
From the San Antonio Express-News:
Asked if there is “light at the end of the tunnel” for the Spurs’ linchpin player, Popovich said, “Oh, sure. He’s gonna be back sooner rather than later.”
The coach then paused before adding, “Whatever nebulous (stuff that was). As soon as I said it, I thought, ‘What the hell does that mean?’ “
Nov. 22
Now Leonard is still “sooner than later,” but we have basically no real update. We can all hope to see him back on the court as soon as possible.
Dec. 12
Leonard returns, and he looks good. For nine games, The Claw averages 25 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 3.2 steals and just under two steals a game. Leonard does not play in the second of Spurs’ back-to-backs. He only plays games that are spaced out by two or more days.
Jan. 2
Leonard goes off for a season-high 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals in a win over the Knicks. Jan. 17
The Spurs list Leonard as out indefinitely as he continues rehabbing his right quadriceps tendinopathy. More about his status here.
Feb. 21
Popovich tells reporters it’s unlikely San Antonio’s All-Star forward make a return this season:
“I’ll be surprised if he returns this season,” Pop 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 gonna be pretty late into the season; and it’s going to be a pretty tough decision -- how late to bring somebody back. So that’s why I’m just trying to be honest and logical. I’ll be surprised if he gets back this year.”
