This year, Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers are aiming to bring home the franchise’s first-ever championship. When healthy, Leonard is considered one of the NBA’s most complete players. Unfortunately for the talented forward, a series of injuries over his 14-year career have hampered his progress and limited his time on the court.
Leonard’s injury history always seems to come up when discussing his achievements. Despite winning two championships and being named to the NBA All-Star team six times, the 33-year-old forward has never played a full 82-game season, topping out at 74 games in 2016-17. He’s played 60 or fewer games in seven of his 14 seasons and managed just 37 games this year due to a knee issue.
How Many Games Has Kawhi Leonard Missed Over His Career?
Leonard was a top prospect coming out of San Diego State in 2011, and the 6-foot-7 small forward was available for most of his rookie season. The following year, however, health issues began, with Leonard missing 18 games due to a left quadriceps injury.
In his third season, he missed significant time due to a metacarpal fracture in his right hand and played in 66 of the San Antonio Spurs’ regular-season games, starting 65 of them.
By this point, the California native had firmly established himself as a starter in Gregg Popovich’s lineup. However, Leonard’s injury issues weren’t behind him.
In January 2015, he suffered another setback with a torn ligament in his right hand. Leonard played in 64 regular-season games and returned in time for the playoffs.
The 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons were Leonard’s breakout years. He averaged 21.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in 2015-16 and finished second in MVP voting the following year while averaging 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists over 74 starts.
An ankle injury in the 2017 Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors was a major blow for both Leonard and the Spurs. The injury occurred when Leonard landed on Zaza Pachulia’s foot following a jump shot. Leonard was the centerpiece of San Antonio’s offense at the time, and the Spurs were swept in the series without him.
In 2017-18, quadriceps and shoulder issues limited Leonard to just nine games, and he missed the playoffs.
Leonard may have hoped a change of scenery in 2018 would help him avoid the injury bug, but that wasn’t the case. Over the next few seasons with the Toronto Raptors and Clippers, he dealt with a long list of nagging injuries that saw him play in 169 games over four years. Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season due to a partial ACL tear suffered during the 2021 Western Conference finals.
Knee Issues Have Limited Leonard’s Availability in Recent Seasons
Leonard’s knee injury continued to be a problem, and he re-injured it in 2023. In Game 1 of the 2022-23 playoff series against the Phoenix Suns, Leonard tore his right meniscus. He recovered in time for the 2023-24 season, appearing in 68 games for Los Angeles.
The knee remains a concern. Leonard was forced to withdraw from the USA men’s national team roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics to focus on rehabbing the injury.
This season, he missed the first 34 games and was used sporadically by coach Tyronn Lue. Overall, Leonard played in 37 regular-season games and averaged 31.9 minutes per game.
Since his NBA debut, Leonard has played in 733 out of a possible 1,112 regular-season games (about 65.9%).
