Bill Simmons reports that Kawhi Leonard will make his season debut for the Clippers before Christmas, but head coach Ty Lue isn’t sure.
Lue was questioned after Simmons reported, and he was also asked if Leonard would indeed return before Christmas.
“I don’t know,” Lou said. “I have no idea.”
Lu paused and asked the reporter: “Who said that?”
He was asked again if Kawhi would return during this time, and again he responded: “I don’t know,” Lue said.
What the head coach can say is that the team’s star player has been on the court shooting and “going through some games.”
“Just doing everything he’s supposed to do. … He’s got to check all the boxes and do all the right things and not skip any steps,” Lue said. “So, when he’s done with that, we’ll move on.”
Although Lue did not say how many “boxes” Leonard must check before returning to the court for the first time in the 2024-25 season.
“100% success. I’m not a doctor [doctor]. I don’t know,” Lu said. “I’m not going to be out there lifting weights and doing all this stuff. He’s out there. He’s getting better. He’s out there, he’s doing some things, but he’s not ready to play.
The head coach also defended Kawhi’s injury struggles and painted a much different picture than salty fans have painted.
“For him, it’s more frustrating; he wants to be on the court; he wants to play every night, but the timing is bad,” Lue said. “It’s not like he’s saying, ‘We’re in the playoffs, but I don’t want to play. These are some tough days; these are some tough nights. I’ve had conversations with Kawhi on some nights, He almost cried when he talked about how he let the team down, but there’s nothing you can do about injuries; he’s another guy who works really hard every day on the court and it’s just bad luck.
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