Kawhi Leonard is out of the quarantine process, and the LA Clippers All-Star says he grew stronger during the NBA’s four months.
Leonard spent the weekend in quarantine after he arrived to restart the league in Orlando, Florida, separated from the Clippers after an excused absence to attend to a family matter. He joined the Clippers on Monday for his first team practice as the season ended in March.
“Has it been four months?” Leonard said when asked about his health after taking four months off. “I mean, I feel good. You know, I was able to train, get stronger, and prepare for this moment now that we’re in. It’s about to be the first practice today, so I’m excited.”
Clippers coach Doc Rivers said “there are no limits” to his star player, but that the team will be cautious and smart in raising Leonard for the postseason game.
Leonard did not participate in training camp and did not play in the second consecutive game this season as he had a knee problem.
“I still don’t know,” Rivers said of how he plans to use Leonard in the eight games leading up to the postseason. “But there are no limits. Kawhi is healthy for the most part. That still doesn’t mean we don’t want to keep him and take him to the first eight games and prepare for the playoffs. We want to be smart about it.”
Leonard said he used free time during the break “almost like an offseason,” although, as Rivers has pointed out, Leonard didn’t have much of an offseason to train hard last summer because the Finals MVP was recovering from the long championship. of the Toronto Raptors.
Leonard said he will treat the next few weeks as a preseason to prepare for the playoffs.
“You usually have three months and then you come to a training camp, you practice a couple and then you have the preseason games,” said Leonard. “That’s kind of the mindset. But, as everyone knows, you only have eight games to prepare for the postseason. But it almost just takes that same timeline to prepare.”
“Everyone knows his body and they know what they have to do, so I mean, it will be my first practice today, so we will go out and see how I feel and then we will continue from there, we will continue to build on that. But nobody knows.”
During his time at home, Leonard watched the death of George Floyd grow the Black Lives Matter movement and sparked a wave of protests against police brutality and systemic racism. Leonard said he will continue to donate to the Southern California community, including his hometown area, Moreno Valley.
“I mean, for me and my teammates, almost everyone: We are black, so we have been dealing with this situation,” Leonard said. “We have been giving back to our communities. It is only broadcasting since everyone has been quarantined. I think … But I will continue to do what I have been doing, giving back to my community, educating my community, and continuing from there.”
“What happened, what everyone has been saying on the news, has been like [that] for me, “added Leonard.” I’ve been seeing those situations, so it’s nothing new to me, and I’m still going to continue to help and educate people as well as my teammates. It doesn’t matter if we [make] a statement on the back of our shirt; it’s about getting the job done. “
The Clippers (44-20) enter the reboot as title contenders with Leonard averaging 26.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Leonard said the unprecedented disruption to the season will not take away any team that wins the championship.
“This is just this year’s design,” Leonard said when asked about the opinion of some that there should be an asterisk this season. “Just stay focused. It’s not like a regular NBA season. No one’s life is more or less what they planned it to be like right now with the pandemic, so I mean, you take it for what it is.”
“Everyone is happy that a championship will be crowned this year, and if that’s the 2020 championship, then we want it. You know, that’s how I look at it. This is the design, as far as going out and completing this journey.”
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