Kawhi Leonard is missing another high-profile game, but the NBA says that’s not a problem.
The NBA quickly quashed any concerns that the Clippers were breaking the league’s rest rule, also known as load management, with Leonard missing Wednesday’s nationally televised game against 2019 MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks — the first game of a back-to-back.
The league’s rest rule, implemented in 2017 says, “Teams can’t sit healthy players for high-profile, nationally televised games, and fines for violating that can be for at least $100,000.”
“Kawhi Leonard is not a healthy player under the league’s resting policy, and, as such, is listed as managing a knee injury in the LA Clippers injury report,” league spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN. “The league office, in consultation with the NBA’s director of sports medicine is comfortable with the team medical staff’s determination that Leonard is not sufficiently healthy to play in back-to-back games at this time.”
This is believed to be the first time Leonard’s knee injury has been disclosed to the public.
Leonard missed most of the 2017-18 season with a quad injury and sat out 22 games with the Raptors last year in order to rest himself for the postseason.
Leonard, who should resume playing Thursday against the Trail Blazers, also missed the first leg of a back-to-back against the Jazz — also a nationally televised game — last week.
Wednesday’s move represents a “long-range” plan to keep the star healthy, according to ESPN, and based on the results that Leonard’s load management yielded last season — a championship with the Raptors — that seems like a wise move.
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