San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said on Tuesday both injured Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard are headed in the right direction, but noted that the latter’s rehabilitation work is going a bit slower. Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News has more:
“He’s just coming along more slowly, for whatever reason,” Popovich said of Leonard, who missed all of the preseason and the first 10 games of the regular season due to right quadriceps tendinopathy.
“It’s just been more difficult for him to get through the rehab routine. His body hasn’t reacted the same way. Tony is at the point where he has been going five on five and that sort of thing. He’s not totally confident. It will be a few more weeks. But he’s definitely going in the right direction, and so is Kawhi. It’s just been taking a little bit longer.”
Leonard, 26, missed the entire preseason and has been out the first 11 games of the regular season due to right quadriceps tendinopathy. There’s currently no timetable for his return. Parker, who is recovering from offseason surgery to repair his left quadriceps tendon, is still a “few more weeks” away, Orsborn reports.
Here’s more from the Express-News regarding Parker and Leonard:
Popovich was asked if Leonard will have to go through the same procedure as Parker, who returned to the Spurs on Tuesday after spending Monday working out with the Austin Spurs.
“Sure,” Popovich said. “I wouldn’t want him to go right from rehab to jumping on the court. He has to go three on three, five on five, feel comfortable. Because in the end that confidence is what…Anybody who has been out any length of time has to get that back even if the doctors say, ‘Yep, you are ready to go.’ You really aren’t until you are mentally ready to go.”
The Spurs are 7-4 without their two cornerstones.
