The Los Angeles Clippers saw their season come to an end on Tuesday night with a 136-130 loss to the Phoenix Suns. The game happened as Los Angeles’ two star wings, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, sat on the bench with knee injuries. George has a sprain in his knee that has held him out since mid-March, meaning he did not get the chance to play at all against Phoenix.
As for Leonard, he played in Games 1 and 2 of the series before getting held out with what the team called a knee sprain, one that he apparently suffered in the first game of the series and played through in the second game. But on Wednesday morning, we got a little more clarity on what happened to Leonard, and it turns out the injury is worse than originally reported. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Leonard suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee.
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Leonard averaged 35 points in first two games of this postseason vs. Suns before the meniscus injury was revealed and he was shut down by medical staff.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 26, 2023
Leonard’s last postseason run also ended early due to a right knee injury. Back in 2021, Leonard suffered a partial ACL tear that limited him to four games in the Clippers’ Western Conference Semifinal series against the Utah Jazz, which required surgery and held him out for the entirety of the 2021-22 NBA season. There is no word on whether or not Leonard will need to go under the knife to repair his meniscus.