NBA: Injured Spurs star Leonard to miss pre-season
Kawhi Leonard #2 of the San Antonio Spurs stands on the court during Game One of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena on May 14, 2017, in Oakland, California. AFP FILE
Los Angeles, United States — San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard will miss the entire NBA pre-season as he struggles with a right thigh injury, the team said Saturday.
A Spurs statement said Leonard was suffering from a “right quadriceps tendinopathy” and there was no set timetable for his return.
“He is expected to miss the entire 2017 pre-season,” the Spurs said on Twitter.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said earlier Leonard was still undergoing intensive rehab on the injury.
“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],” Popovich said.
“But he’s working at it, and we’ll get him back as soon as we can.”
It is unclear when Leonard sustained the injury. Leonard was sidelined during the 2017 playoffs after suffering an ankle injury in the Western Conference semi-finals against Houston.
He aggravated that injury in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Golden State Warriors, ruling him out of the remainder of the series, which the Spurs lost 4-0. /cbb
