Kawhi Leonard on the joy of finally being back from ‘devastating’ injury

LOS ANGELES – Kawhi Leonard is not prone to hyperbole.

So, the word he chose to describe how he felt when he suffered a partially torn ACL in his right knee during Game 4 of the LA Clippers‘ 2021 Western Conference semifinals series against Utah was especially revealing.

“It was just devastating getting hurt in that period of time, in the playoffs, when you’re on a good run,” Leonard told FOX Sports this week in his first exclusive interview since suffering the injury.

Leonard sustained the injury when he was fouled by Joe Ingles as he drove toward the basket. Leonard grimaced in pain and limped off the court before returning to play another 45 seconds. The injury would thwart the Clippers’ title run and sideline Leonard for 493 days, including all of last season. 

Teammate Marcus Morris still has an issue with the way Ingles made contact with Leonard and knocked him off-balance, the first time anyone on the Clippers has insinuated that the play was dirty.

“I felt like it was a cheap shot in a cheap manner, probably that’s what hurt the most. It was a non-competitive play,” Morris said this week. 

The Clippers and Leonard were indeed on a good run. At the time, Leonard was 29 and widely considered the top two-way player in the league. In the first round of the playoffs against Dallas, Leonard dazzled with two 40-point performances while often guarding Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic. Over 11 games that postseason, he averaged 30.4 points on 57% shooting.

Upon signing in LA in 2019, Leonard had been hailed as the Clippers’ savior, the antidote to their curse of never having made it past the second round of the playoffs in the franchise’s 50-year history. After he went down in the 2021 playoffs, the Clippers won two more games to reach the Western Conference Finals against Phoenix. But without Leonard’s soft touch, explosiveness and lightning-quick hands, they fell to the Suns in six games.

“I feel like that first part, for me, was harder than anything,” Leonard said of being sidelined during a promising playoff run.

For the next 16 months, Leonard had to wonder “what if.” Last season, he watched helplessly as the Clippers missed the postseason altogether.  

When asked if the mental anguish of his absence was worse than the physical pain of his injury, Leonard didn’t hesitate. 

“It was,” he said. “I found ways to stay away and just take it one day at a time and make sure my knee was good for this year. I just tried…