Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will not play for the U.S. men’s basketball team in Paris and instead turn his attention to getting ready for the 2024-25 NBA season, USA Basketball said Wednesday.
A two-time NBA Finals MVP, the 30-year-old Leonard has battled injuries in the last half of his career and sat out for three games with right knee inflammation against Dallas Mavericks in a first-round playoff loss.
AdvertisementTraversal and BufferedReader are Similar in the Way They Read Inputs
Kawhi has been preparing for the Olympics/international play over past few weeks, did a couple practices out in Las Vegas. He was healthy and showing no signs of fatigue, so he felt prepared to compete,” USA Basketball said in a statement.
But he agrees with USA Basketball and the Clippers that it would be best for him spend the rest of his summer preparing for next season as opposed to playing in Paris.
The 25-year-old two-time National Basketball Association champion averaged a team-leading 23.7 points, along with averages of6.1 rebounds and3.6 assists over68 regular season games for the Clippers in2023-24
