Today Kawhi Leonard will play an NBA game again for the first time in 15 months. The forward returns fully recovered from the ligament injury that kept him off the court all last season. The Los Angeles Clippers debut today against their neighbors, the Lakers. And the big news could be seeing Kawhi come off the bench heading into the first game of the season.
The two-time Finals MVP has been taking every possible precaution in managing his minutes for years. Basically it was he who popularized the load management refraining from playing matches on consecutive days and deliberately resting when he deemed the match load excessive. But he had never gotten to the point of coming off the bench for this purpose.
Leonard has only played two preseason games, but he started them. According to details Chris Haynes for yahoo sportsthe Clippers are seriously considering having the player come off the bench in addition to the presumable minute restriction to which he will be subject in the first few games.
(Cover photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
