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San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard to miss preseason

By The Sports Xchange
San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard will miss the preseason with a quad injury, the team announced Saturday. Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/UPI
San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard will miss the preseason with a quad injury, the team announced Saturday. Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/UPI | License Photo

San Antonio Spurs All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard will miss the entire preseason due a right thigh injury, the team announced Saturday.

The Spurs said in a statement that Leonard's timeline for returning to the court would be determined at a later date as he "continues a rehabilitation program for right thigh tendinopathy."

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Spurs coach Gregg Popovich indicated the issue first developed sometime last season.

"We're still rehabbing his thigh," Popovich said at Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage at the AT&T Center, "And he'll probably miss the beginning of preseason or a good deal of preseason, and we're not going to put a timetable (on a return). But he's working at it, and we'll get him back as soon as we can."

The 26-year-old Leonard missed time in the 2017 playoffs due to an ankle injury suffered in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets. He aggravated that sprain in Game 1 of the conference finals and sat out the rest of San Antonio's 4-0 series loss to the Golden State Warriors.

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"No, nothing happened," Popovich said about whether Leonard suffered a recent injury. "It's just last year ... working on things from last year. It's gone a little more slowly than we thought. No, (the) ankle's fine."

The 6-foot-7, 230-pound Leonard is entering his seventh NBA season after averaging 25.5 points and 5.8 rebounds last season, making the All-Star Game for the second time in his career. He was voted first team All-NBA and named first team All-Defense.

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