Don't Expect Kawhi Leonard or Klay Thompson to Play Opening Night

Both the LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors will likely be without one of their stars opening night.

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The NBA has released its schedule for the 2021-22 season, and the LA Clippers will open up against the Golden State Warriors. While it was expected that Kawhi Leonard would be absent for this matchup after suffering a partial ACL tear in the Western Conference Semi-Finals, it was not until just recently that it became known that Klay Thompson will also likely be out.

In a recent episode of ESPN's The Jump, Ramona Shelburne announced that the Warriors are targeting their Christmas Day matchup with the Phoenix Suns as Klay Thompson's long awaited return. Klay has not played in an NBA game since the 2019 Finals when he tore his ACL. The sharpshooter faced another setback when he tore his achilles while nearing a return from the ACL injury.

For basketball fans everywhere, but especially those in the Bay, Klay's return is expected to bring immense excitement. On the other side of this matchup, the Clippers will be preparing to be without Kawhi Leonard much further into the 2021-22 season. While there is no official timetable on Kawhi's injury, the current expectation is that he will miss the entire 2021-22 season recovering from a partial ACL tear.

While the Clippers opening night matchup with the Warriors will be without two marquee players, it will have no shortage of star-power. Steph Curry is coming off of arguably his best regular season ever, one in which he took home the scoring title and placed 3rd in MVP voting. On the other side, the Clippers will be lead by Paul George and the group of players who ascended the franchise to their first Western Conference Finals appearance ever.

Both Kawhi and Klay will be missed, but this matchup still has the ability to be very exciting.