LAS VEGAS — Kawhi Leonard, the star forward for the U.S. team who has been battling chronic knee pain and inflammation for months, will not play in the Paris Olympics and will be replaced, the United States Basketball Association announced Wednesday.
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White is seen as the leading candidate to replace him, according to team sources.
A 6-foot-4 guard who can defend much taller players, the 30-year-old White won an NBA championship with the Celtics and was a member of the 2019 U.S. World Cup team.
An update on Kawhi Leonard of the USA Men’s Basketball National Team. pic.twitter.com/84TjYpc90i
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 10, 2024
The 33-year-old Leonard was at Team USA training camp and was on the court for every practice and scrimmage. He claimed his injured left knee was feeling better and his coaches said he was “up and running” at full speed for the Olympics.
But Leonard and the U.S. team decided the knee condition that caused him to miss the final eight games of the regular season and most of the Los Angeles Clippers’ first-round playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks would not allow him to play at the speed necessary in what is expected to be a highly contested Olympic tournament.
In 2021, Kevin Love participated in training camp as a member of the U.S. national team, but was unable to reach his level of conditioning and performance due to a lingering injury and voluntarily withdrew from the camp.
The Clippers and the NBA were concerned Leonard could cause further damage to his knee this summer, jeopardizing his eligibility to play in the regular season opener when the Clippers open their $2 billion Intuit Dome arena, people familiar with the matter said. But it was ultimately Leonard’s and Team USA’s decision, as teams are not allowed to block players from competing in the Olympics.
Leonard has been dealing with chronic inflammation from multiple surgeries, playing just two games in the 2023 playoffs with a torn meniscus and missing the entire 2021-22 season after tearing his ACL during the 2021 playoffs.
White, the only U.S. player to never have been an All-Star, averaged a career-best 15.2 points and shot 40 percent from the 3-point line with the Celtics and was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.
The U.S. team will also be without star forward Kevin Durant with a calf injury, but Durant could return to the court next week in Abu Dhabi.
Must Read
(Photo: Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
