The NBA broke a bombshell news today: Leonard has undergone knee surgery and his return date is undecided.
Such news was really a bolt from the blue, which caught the Los Angeles Clippers off guard and pushed Leonard to the forefront again. Leonard has not been healthy, but his appearances in recent years have really become less and less optimistic.
In his five seasons with the Clippers, Leonard has been suffering injuries in the playoffs, disrupting the team's rhythm and plans. In the 2021-22 season, Leonard was reimbursed for the season due to injury, played 68 regular season games last season and then got injured again, and watched the Clippers be eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks after only two games in the playoffs.
This summer, Leonard originally planned to represent the United States men's basketball team at the Paris Olympics, but ultimately chose to withdraw early or recuperate. Seeing that the new season is about to start and preseason training camp and preseason games are on the agenda, Leonard suddenly released the news of knee surgery, which undoubtedly poured cold water on Clippers fans.
You know, in January of this year, the Clippers extended Leonard's contract early, giving him a three-year, $152.4 million contract that will not expire until the summer of 2027. Unexpectedly, as soon as the contract was renewed, Leonard continued to suffer injuries, and his attendance was greatly reduced.
Regarding this situation, fans began to write jokes, lamenting that George saw the situation clearly and ran fast, the so-called "George was prescient, Wei Shao was unconscious, Harden was unconscious, and Ballmer was unconscious".
Harden is also very unlucky, he has had important teammates in the playoffs in the last five years, in 2020 it was Westbrook, in 2021 it was Irving, in 2022 and 2023 it was Embiid, and in 2024 it was Leonard.