Kawhi Leonard is expected to be ready for the U.S. when Olympic training camp begins next week.
Coach Steve Kerr told reporters on Thursday that the U.S. team plans to have all 12 players in training camp, which begins on July 6.
Leonard missed 12 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ final 14 games of the regular season and playoffs because of a knee injury.
The United States Basketball Association announced its 12-player roster for the 2024 Olympics on April 17, three days after the end of the NBA regular season. Leonard had missed eight consecutive games at the time because of inflammation in his right knee.
Leonard looked good when he returned to the Clippers’ lineup in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks. He played 35 minutes but appeared limited, scoring just 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
Leonard also played in Game 3, but his playing time was cut to 25 minutes. The two-time NBA Finals MVP finished with nine points and nine rebounds on just seven shots.
The Clippers ended up missing Leonard for their final three games against the Mavs, and he told reporters before Game 5 that his knee “didn’t respond” the way he hoped it would during the off-season between Games 2 and 3.
Leonard has had multiple surgeries on his right knee, including repairing a torn anterior cruciate ligament he tore in the second round of the 2021 playoffs. He tore the meniscus in the same knee in Game 2 of the first round of the 2023 postseason against the Phoenix Suns.
It will be interesting to see how much Kerr uses Leonard at the Olympics, as this will be his first time playing for the U.S. Olympic team; he was a finalist for the team in 2016 and 2020.
The U.S. team will play a five-game showcase schedule leading up to the Olympics, starting with a match against Canada on July 10. The team’s first group game for the Summer Olympics will be against Serbia on July 28.
