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INGLEWOOD — Clippers reserve guard Jordan Miller took his place at the key for shooting drills before Tuesday’s practice. During the drill, players pass the ball back and forth to each other. Just a routine drill or so he thought.
Miller was about to toss the ball to the next player when he looked up and saw Kawhi Leonard ready to catch his pass.
“I’m passing it to Kawhi. Oh, snap,” Miller said of his initial reaction to seeing the six-time All-Star on the court.
Leonard took part in limited practice on Tuesday, his first appearance in team drills since last season when his right knee flared up during the playoffs. The two-time NBA Finals MVP has missed the first 25 games this season as he works his way back into playing shape after having an offseason knee procedure that left him dealing with inflammation.
“He just kind of snuck his way onto the court, you know, very Kawhi-like,” Miller said. “It’s great to have another leader on the court. He’s been leading off the court, obviously, but for him to be in the drill, participating with us, it’s just a different feeling.”
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said Leonard looked “good” in practice, taking part in offensive and defensive work, but without contact. Lue added that while Leonard has gotten better, he will not play against the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
Asked what boxes the 33-year-old forward still needs to check before he can suit up for a game, Lue said he needs to “do a lot more things to really get back on the floor. We just want to make sure he’s 100%; we don’t want to get him out there at 70%, 75%.
“So, let’s just take our time, make sure we get it right. Like I said, our medical staff – with Maggie Bryant, Todd Wright, Jasen Powell – those guys have done a great job just making sure that he’s checking every box, not speeding through it, not skipping steps. We’re not going to let him skip steps.”
Leonard’s surprise appearance, even in a limited capacity, was a morale boost for the rest of the team.
“It gave us energy and like at this point, where we are, we can take all the energy we can get,” Miller said. “So, it’s good to have him back on the court.
“At the end of the day, we all want the best for him. Whenever that is, whenever he can play with us, that’s great. But, at the end of the day, we just want what’s best for him.”
Leonard, who sat out the entire 2021-22 season because of a torn ACL in his right knee and has missed 204 of a possible 460 games since joining the Clippers in 2019, did not speak to reporters.
Like the rest of the team, Lue could sense a change at the Clippers’ training facility.
“It raised our energy just for our guys to see him on the floor,” Lue said. “It brought a juice to our team, so we needed that jolt, especially going through the schedule we’ve been through, so it was really good to see him out there.”
The Clippers have been able to stay competitive in the stacked Western Conference without their star player. Although they have dropped their past two games, including a 28-point blowout to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Clippers (14-11) are sixth in the conference and limiting opponents to a fifth-best 107.4 points per game.
That will enable Leonard to take a slower approach to getting back into the flow. He will not have to carry the team right away and return to averaging 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists like he did last season before suffering knee problems.
“But at some point, you need him to be Kawhi Leonard,” Lue said. “I think he can do that. And just seeing the year he had last year – playing 68 games – and how he played at a really high level. So, we just got to get him back to that. It’s going to take some time, and he can’t get frustrated with the process.”
The Clippers got more good news as All-Star point guard James Harden (groin), guard Amir Coffey (shoulder), guard Kris Dunn (illness) and backup center Mo Bamba (injury management) all took part in Tuesday’s practice. Harden, Coffey and Bamba all sat out Sunday night’s loss to the Houston Rockets.
Dunn played 22 minutes but came down with an unspecified illness.
Forward Derrick Jones Jr. was diagnosed with a right hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
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