Kawhi 'feels great,' cleared for 5-on-5 play

Kawhi Leonard's return to the Los Angeles Clippers lineup appears to be one step closer.

President Lawrence Frank says the two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player "feels great" and has been cleared for 5-on-5 play.

Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard “feels great” and is cleared for 5-on-5 play, team president Lawrence Frank said today. Not many more specifics offered on Leonard’s preseason availability but Frank said Kawhi wants to do everything.

The Los Angeles Times' Andrew Greif notes that while Frank said Leonard wants to do everything, he offered little in terms of anything concrete on his potential preseason availability.

Leonard, 31, missed the entirety of the 2021-2022 season recovering from the ACL injury he incurred during the 2021 playoffs in a series with the Utah Jazz.

In his three seasons under contract with the Clippers, the Los Angeles native has only appeared in 109 regular-season games.

Leonard, who won NBA titles with the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors, signed a four-year, $176.3 million deal with the Clippers during the summer of 2021.